Vcl. ~ No. ,!t

FAIR ISLE BIRD OBSERVATORY

BULLETIN

Edited by

KENNETH WILLIAMSON

Director

Printed by George Waterston & Sons Ltd" Edinburgh

for the Fair Isle Bird Observatory Trust

Price 5/-

(Issued free to Friends of Fair Isle)

FAIR ISLE BmD OBSERVATORY TRUST

Dr. JAMES W. CAMPBELL *Dr. JOHN BERRY *Mr A. G. S. BRYSON The MARQUESS OF BUTE Dr. F. FRASER DARLING Mr J AMES FISHER

*Col. W. M. LOGAN HOME Cmdr. G. HUGHES-ONSLOW,

(Retd.) Mr G. THEO KAy

Trustees: Sir NORMAN B. KINNEAR Sir. JOHN STIRLING MAXWELL

*Professor M. F. M. MEIKLEjOHN Col. R. MEINERTZHAGEN Mr E. M. NICHOLSON Professor JAMES RITCHIE Mr PETER SCOTT

R.N. Dr. A. C. STEPHEN Sir LANDSBOROUGH THoMsoN Professor V. C. WYNNE-EDWARDS

Chairman:-ARTHuR B. DUNcAN.

Hon. Secretary:-GEORGE WATERSTON, 5 Charlotte Square, Edinburgh, 2.

Hon. Treasurer :-IAN PITMAN, 48 Castle Street, Edinburgh, 2.

Director :-KENNETH WILLlAMSON. April to October-Fair Isle Bird Observatory, by Lerwick, Shetland.

November to March-17 India Street, Edinburgh, 3.

* Member of Executive Committee.

Solicitors:-J. & F. ANDERSON, W.S., 48 Castle Street, Edinburgh, 2. Auditors:-LINDSAY, JAMIESON & HALDANE, C.A., St. Andrew Square,

Edinburgh, 2. Bankers:-UNION BANK OF SCOTLAND LTD., 64 George Street, Edinburgh, 2.

Annual Subscription (" Friend of Fair Isle") ...... One Guinea.

Please support by Donation or Legacy

The Fair Isle Bird Observatory Endowment Fund

With the generous help of the Pilgrim Trust, the Observatory Trustees have established an Endowment Fund for Ornithology and Bird Preservation in Scotland. The objects .are :-To establish the Fair Isle Bird Observatory on a permanent financial basis; to extend Fair Isle research methods to other stations in Scotland; and, finally, to develop Bird Sanctuaries and Bird Preservation in general.

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Write to the Hon. Secretary for particulars.

Fair Isle Bird Observatory Bulletin~ Vol. 3, No. 2 May 1956

CONTENTS

18. "1'ihite"'winged" Arotic SkUas K.l"I....... 50 19. The Arctic SkUa Study in 1955

Ktmneth Williamson • •• 51 20. Passerine Migration at Fair Isle in Autunm

1955. Kennoth Wi11iamson • . . 57 21. A Final Report from Foula - Summer and Autumn

1955. C. K. Mylne • • • • 62 22. Migration from the North and North-west in

Autunm 1955. Kenneth Wi1liamson • •• 65 23. Whooper Swan Migration K.W. •••••••• 72 24. Autumn and '\'Timer Bird M:ovements in the South

o£ Shetl"and. Tom Henderson. • • •• 73 25. Autunm Migration (1955) at Great Saltee

R.F. RUTTLEDGE and JOHN 'WEAVING 79 26. Migration at Blaavandshuk, Denmark. in

Autunm 1955. Ian N'i sbet • • • • • •• 85 27. Spring and Autunm Migration (1955) at Portland

Bill, Dorset. John S., Ash • • • • • • 88

28. The Bonxies ' Breeding-Season~ 1955 K.W. •• 93 29. Recent Fair Isle Bird-Ringing Recoveries 94 30. Report on Flat-flies Collected at Fair Isle

in 1955. Gordon B. Corb-et • • 97 31. Flat-fly Infestation on SkOkholm in 1955

32.

33.

. Geoffrey Stansfield •• 101

The Iilf'estation of Birds by Floas at Fair -Isle in 1955. Kenneth Williamson

Lepidoptera on Migration in August 1955 Kenneth liilliamson

• • • 103

. . . 106 34. Bird Notes from Haroldswick, Unst.

1mgnus and Douglas Sinclair • • • 108

50

18. «White-winged" Arctio SkUas.

At the beginning of the 19-55 sea.son we lost· the most interesting member of our Fair Isle skUa colony, the "white-winged" mutant ~ of the Burn of- Furse North pair & Although a dark morph she had a number of White feathers at the oarpalia and in the lesser oovertsg a round white patoh in mid-belly~ and small white spots on the ohin and under the ey-eso In early May she was with her-dar~plumaged mate on their territory, and on the lI!Orning of 21st was seen sporting with· other skUas above Homi sdale 8 An hour later, when searohing -for -her :nest" I found her bodYa newly dead. How she di~d is a mysterys - but her loss has brought to a halt (we hope only temporarily) an interesting natural experimentg for her breeding record over 6 years has prOvided the only available- data on the inheritance of this mutat1ono

Every year since 1949 the pair had· hatohed tWo young a one apparently normal" the other with the same albinistio markings as the ~ in both down and juvenal plumageso (1951 was an exoeption, both chioks being mutants) 0 Normal young flew at the site in 1950 and 1952, the latter a pale morph, and "white-winged" ones were reared in 1949, 1953 and 1954. It ,vas perhaps one of the se whioh we saw on several .oo_oasions among the non-breeders in 1955: if so, then there is a ohance of our loss being-made good in a future season.

The fact that she reproduoed her own kind eaoh year prompted us to look further forevidenee of this "white-winged" variety. and examiilation of the British Museum and other oolleotions has brought a number of examples to light" Both dark- and pale morph variants have been oolleoted at Godhaab in Greenland, and are known from Iceland and the Faeroe Islands (where I saw a dark bird like our own in May 195~)'~ Shetland, Orkney and Caithness.· An Amerioan museum has a pale nnrbant colleoted on migration at Cape Cod, Massachusetts, and in the Berlin Museum is a dark :bird shot- from hard-set eggs at Namsos in No~.· TP.e two oldest examples are Faeroe birds dated 1875 and 1879. W K ••

51

19. The Arctic SkUa study in 1955.

ltENNETH WI LLIAMS ON •

The Arctic SkUa Stercorarius parasiticus colony contimles to grow" but its increase has not been evenly spread Over the yearso In 1949, the f'irst season f'or which 'We have an accurate f'igure, there were 20 pairs, and oilJ.y 2: additional pairs joined in 1950. The next; season saw a slight rise to 26, and from 1952 to 1954 the population was f'airly stable at just over 30 pairs. The increase in the present; season, by 10 pairs to 44, is therefore remarkable.

In all, these 44 pairs laid 75 eggs, and so far as we knOW succeeded in-rearing 53 youIlgg i.e. 70.66%: of the total-eggs laid. This -figure is probably a little high" for it is not possible to be sure that etV'ery youngster which flies eventually leaves the island: such oasualties as are known to have oocurred in the post-fledging period have been taken into account. There are some complicet ions. In actual fact, one pair probably did not lay an egg at all - though they succeeded in rearing a chiCk, a seeming paradox which is fully explained in -the paragraph devoted to SUitKA- MOOR MIDDLE. Another pair, PLANTACRUBS" had 3 eggs d~~ing the season- but railed to rear a chiCk; a third, BURN OF FORSE NORTH, pUt their--two eggs in differnet nests; and at _one site, VATSTRASS, two healthy youngsters were raised by a single adult. The events at these and a few other selected sites are gummarised below.

By far the most gratifying feature of the present season is that no less than 6 (and possibly 8) of the new breeding-birds had Deen first ringed as chiCks in a former season. Thus we obtained the fir st direct evidence that a proportion of the youngsters Subsequently return to their colony of birth. Of these" one is now 5 years old" 2 are in their 4th summer, and 2 are 3rd- summer birds. Owing to the loss of its mmibered aluminium ring, a sixbh could not be identified. TWo birds with aluminium rings only, and 'which we failed to trap, are almost certainly young of a previous year: had we got them, the figure for new oreeders identif'ied in this way might have been as high as 20%.

52

It is clear that the birds are losing their butted No.3 aluminium rings. but our experience during the past year leads us to hope that the rate of loss may not be so serious as we had feared. The "double-ended 3", which has two identical inscriptions. one overlapping and so protect­ing the other. is now being used for skUas and we hope the double thic'k:neSS of aluminium will give the rings a longer life. The butted No o 3 rings taken from birds retrapped in 1955 were all perfectly legible but had worn very thin due to sea-water corrosion. The loss in weight in 3 oases was between 35 .. 4 and 38 Per cent, in 2 others only 25.4 and 30.9-per cent, and was not correlated with their age. The plastio co1our~rings become very brittle after a few years and purple, green and red fade to blue, yellow and pink in a very short time. Their use on young birds, which m~ not be retrapped for three or more seasons, is a waste of time; so we use them now only on adults whioh we can take. if need be, at the ne at each season.

The policy of trapping and colour-ringing the nesting adults, begun in 1954 and continued in the present season .. is already having very interesting results. The trapping is done by means of a clap-net operated from a hide placed 10-15 yards from the nest: dUImlly eggs are substituted for the bird' s own, which are kept warm in ootton-wool. Most birds overcome their suspicion fairly quiCkly, few taking more than half-an-hour to return. At the end of the 1955 season all but 9 of the 87 breeders left alive carried both numbered and coloured rings. An analysis of the 1955 data based on the ringing done in 1954 gives the follo,rlng information ..

Entirely new pairs nesting in 1955 numbered 14, or 31.8,% of the total. There was some re-shuffling among the old-established pairs due to the failure of 1954 partners to return, and this resulted in 7 changed matings. In two cases the surviving members of adjacent pairs joined up on the territory of the & bird (this may also have happened in a third instanceL whilst in other oases the survivor attracted one of the previous year's non-breeders. Birds ringed as non-breeders at the Airstrip Pool in 1954 and re-

53

trapped at nests in 1955 numbered 6 of the total of 15, an excellent return. The summer drought of 1955 completely dried up this bathing-pool for most of the seasonl so that we were unable to add to this useful source.

Of the 35 nesting-birds colour-ringed in 1954 7 did not return, suggesting a loss to the colony of about 20% of its efeective breeding-stock. This seems high for a species which does not attain maturity until the 3rd and 4th summers, but more reliable data from larger samples will be forthcoming in future year s.

Pale morphs made up 25% of the tot al, an increase on previous years (15% on 1951, 20'f0 in 1952, 23%: in 1953) and three of the matings. were "double-pale".

Events at Selected Sites

BURN OF FURSE NORTH. Early in the season there was tragedy at this site for on May 21st we lost the 9 "white­winged l' mutant; (see p. 50). There was an unringed da.I"k morph with the dark a at this site on May 24th-25th, but the 0 was alone on most days in early June. From June 9th an intermediate bird was usually in his company, and on 12th this bird rose from a one-egg nest.

By the afternoon of June 16th we felt sure that a second egg would not be laid, so we set the clap-net and oaught the new bird. Two d~s later, when crossing this territorY, we ohanced upon another one~egg nest about 40 yards from the first. The eggs in both were quite warm. During an hour t s watch from a hide on the hillside above the 9 showed no interest in either nest, and the 0, after lOOking as though he would settle on the first, finally went down to the new ne st. Our inter"lWntion must have upset the 9 when she was nearly ready to lay a second, delayed egg. We pUt the first-laid egg in the new nest, but by July 11th, "When the second was hatching, it was clear that the older one was addled.

EAS BRECKS:; EAST. There was little sign of aotivity at this old-e~ablished site, occupied since 1948, in mid May, though this has always been one of the earliest pairs.

54

A changed mating provided the reason. In 1954 we put oolour-rings . on one of the pair ~ and this bird returned. The 1955 nest was found on May 25th, and it was with some exoitement that we saw a single ring on the new bird, suggesting that she was a previous year i s chiok. When we caught her on June 3rd she proved to be 337.789 - marked as a "very dark-loOking youngster with bel1y­feathers sooty to base" at Furse Hillside in 1951. She is now a typical dark morph, breeding for the first time in her fourth summero

In 1951 the Purse Hillside pair lost their first clutoh to a predator, and our bird was the junior chiok of a replacement:- -c.li;d;ch hatched -on .July l8tli. - The young ware (rOloul;~ ... filmed- by Mr. - G ~ T. KAY when I ringed them on July 29th. The -dark youngster flew on August 17th, F. P. 30 days, and both were still on the moor on September 5th. Our bird was last seen on the evening of 7th, a very late date, aocompanied by one of the parents.

It is interesting to note that whereas her parent; s were never known to attack a human intruder, this bird proved strongly aggressive in defending nest and chiCkS, often stooping at our heads as we cycled along the road. Her young hatched on June 20th and flew after 29-30 days.

HOMISDALE N.E. A new site at the very centre of the colony, sand:Wiched between Burn of Purse South and the older Homisdale territories, and maintained solely by the sheer pugnacity of its owners o They are dark X intermediate morphs, the latter an imreterate trouble­maker. On June 13th we oaught this bird ai'tier a long wait, during -whioh it persistently harried neighbOurs both on the ground e.nd in the skY, and showed little inclination to return to the nest. These pursuits not­infrequently involved six or more skUas who filled the skY with their yodelling cries and "ya-wowfl anger-nOtes. The bird proved to be 337~-696, - senior chiCk of Airstrip North in 1951. The plumage and soft parts' still sho'wed features of immaturity. The single egg hatched on July 1st and the youngster flew after 28 days.

55

SUKK,A MOOR MIDDLE~ Last season the middle section of SUkka ~oor was occupied by a pair of non-breeders s pale X dark, and they -were baCk in 1955. At the end of May and in early June one or the other (or both) gave vigorous ffinjury .... feigning1t displays whenever ,w went across their territory. But $ search and watch as we mightl we wsre quite Unable to find a nest •

. As I watched from a distance on June 16th.. the dark bird gave the impression of settling on a nest and brood-ilig. I -went to the spot~ and there was a good deal of distraction display, but found only a bat' e scrape between two hummookS of wiry grass ~ The bird returned ..m.en I went away, and appeared to be enlarging the sorape by pivoting around on her breast. She was sitting there again on 17th and next day had lined the scrape with grass-stems. A bit of flattened cartridge-case, lying outside the nest on 16th, and in it on the following day, now lay outside it on the opposite quarter. By 21st it was baCk in the nest, and the -birds -were assiduously brooding and picturesquely "injury-feigning" in its defencel

Nexb day we put a hard-boiled hen t s egg in the mat, and the pale bird acoepted it at once. We often lOOked towru.°ds SUkka Moor as we want our rounds on 24th# and always one or the other partner was sitting.. This was mOst satisfactory, foi." the dar.'k bird had colour-rings 8lld it was necessary to trap her, for owing to fading there was some oonfusion of idenbity with another bird. She was caught easily enough on 25th" and was found to have fully developed brood-patches. She had been ringed at the Pool beside the Airstrip on June 20th 1954.

We left the hen's egg in the ne st and the pair sat on it until well into. July. We then decided that if the young Breedpiece pair$ whose territory lay adjacent to a Bonxies I just across the moor, showed signs of hatehing both eggs, -we would transfer ons to the -SUkka Moor pair., The Breedpiece eggs were ehipping on 14th, so one was put in the SUkka Moor Middle Mst that evening. The adopted ohick- hatched early on Juilw 18th, - the last chiCk on the isle to break its-shell in 1955. It flourished: and. on August 18th tOOk its maiden fUghtQ

56

SWEY SOUTH. One of the highlights of the previous-­season had been the return to the isle of a pale morph in immature plumage which fortunately had retained the complete set of rings put on it as a chiCk at Jarm's Cup in 1952. It did not establish a territory in 1954, but tOOk a dark mate in the present season. They had a one­egg nest on Swey, and reared a chick. We caught the pale bird on June 13th and the old ring, 344.119, confirmed its identity. This was the only pale juvenile 'which the intermediate adults at Jarm's Cup ever produced.

JARM'S CUP e This site, occupied since 1951, had a changed mating, the original a- (known to us as a non= breeder in 1950) attracting the intermediate ~ from Vatstrass South when their respective partll6!'s failed to return. (All four birds 11'rere ringed in 1954) ~ A similar fusion of' two neighbouring pairs took place on the ne:xt­door territory, the surviving dark ~. at Homisda1e East attracting the pale ~ from Homisdale North.,

VATSTRASS.. With the failure of the 1954 Vatstrass South ~ to retllrn and claim his territory the Vatstrass North pale X intermediate pair tOOk possession of it and hatched two young at 0900 hrs" and 1800 hrS., on June 18th. The pair still showed allegiance to their old ground and would cross the valley to attaCk anyone walking there. They were a pair to avoid, seldom failing to drive home their attaCks. This courageous spirit may have been the pale birdls undoing, for she was f'ound beneath telephone wires in Vatstrass on the morning of' June 21st with a badly-smashed ,,.rl.ngc We had to give her a lethal dose of' chlorof'orm.. and - like the ftwhi te-Winged" lIUltant from Burn of' FUrse - she is now in the Royal Scottish Musewn collection. The a continued to care f'or the ohickS and it is greatly to his credit that he succeeded in l'earing both single-handed, the birds f'ledging in 30 and 3~ dayso

PLANTACRUBS. A laying completed by May 31st was lost to a predator bef'ore June 9th. The pair was seen in cop. 'on 16th and a single-egg replaoement was found on 20th, but ill-luok dogged the pair, and the youngster, hatched on July 14th, survived only 3 weeks or so.

57

20. Passerine Migration at Fair Isle in Autumn 1955 •

KENNETH lIILLIAIItS ON 0

The first evidence of warbler migration at Fair Isle oame a fortnight later than in 1954 1 when a small movement of Willow and Garden Warblers took place on August loth (Bulletin, 2: 215-219). At that period in 1955 a high pressure system covered the British Isles and Nor~, and although this stimulated the -first passage of 'Wheatears Oe. oen8.nt;he, the only unusual bird was a ~ Black Redstart Ph. ochruros gibraltariensis trapped on August 11th. -

The first Willow Warbler Phylloscopus trochilus was seen on 18th. following a Pied Flycatcher Muscioapa hypol­euca- on 12th'and a lihinchat Saxicola rtibetra on 15th. A ~eoond Willow Wa;rbler appeared on 20th, and a Reed Warbler Acrocephalus-scirpaceus was trapped. This was also during an early peak' of lVheatear -passage f"rom Shetland in anticyc­lonic weather, and it was not until 22nd that any marked drift tOOk place.

- -This influx followed the movement of an anticyclone. across Forties to Soandinaviag where the normal pattern of an easterly wind in the Skagerrakl backing southerly in the approach to Fair-Isle, developed on 21st-22ndo Ten Willow Warblers were noted, 8 being trapped, and other migrants ,vere a second Reed Warbler, 2 'Whinchats, a Redstart Phoen. phoemcurus and 2 Pied Flycatchers. They were present on the following day when the Whinchats had increased to 41 the Willow Warblers to 25, and 6 Garden Warblers out of 12 seen were trapped. The first drive of the Gully produced yet another Reed Warbler, a sp'acies very rare at Fair Isle and of which none had been caught since 1951.

Willow Warblers Were down to 6, and "Whinohats and Garden Warblers to single birds, on 24th. though the anti-cyclonic weather held for several days. The lack of any e%tensi ve drift -was probably due to exceptionally calm and clear Sky, conditions at riight in soUth Norway and Denmark as shown by the weather-maps for August 23rd-26th.

58

It is likely that the first of the autumn Barred Warblers SX1v~t: nis~ia, trapped on August 26~h, ~as a drif't-migranb from Denmark in this antioyo10mo aJ.rf10w" and the same holds for a Rosy Pastor Sturnus roseus seen in the early morning near the North Lighthouse:-'/iild on later days in the village area. T1.ro Garden Warblers, 3 \Vhinchats and 6 Willow Warblers on 270Gh were probably on redetermined passage, and 5 S"dfts Apus apus appeared.

A ridge of high pressure ooming in from the 1."Iest touohed off the biggest passage of lfueatears we have had on this da'jr aild the next. There 'WaS a seoond Barred Warbler on 28th, and. a reoord "bag ll of 106 lfueatear s was orownGd at dusk by the seoond Turtle Dove Streptope1ia turtur to be trapped in 7 years e Two Barred Warblers. 6 VvillowWarb1ers and 3 Pied Flyoatchers on 30th were on redetermined passage, a..'1d this also applies to the first Common and Lesser -'Whitethroats Sy1.~ia oomimmis / ~2:l0a. and a Soar1et Grosbeak Carp~~~ er~hrinus on Sept. 1st.

Another high, moving over the North Sea to Norway, gave us a light S~SEe airstream late on September 7th; but there was praotioally no oloud and the wind was very light in the Skagerrak. and arrivals next mormng 1r16re few, 2 each of Barred and Garden Warblers being the only passerines of interest. The 9th was disappointingly quiet, for although the S.SE. wind held overnight, the airstream on the Continental ooasts from Belgium north beoame light SW. However, an oocluded from, crossing the North Sea during the day, brought fog patches to the Skagerrak and on loth a fe1r;/' more birds rewarded our search. There were 4 Pied Flycatohers, the first Tree Pipit Anthus trivia1is and BlaCkCap Sylvia -atrioapilla of the autumn, 2 Garden""and 5 Willow Warblers, a "Whitethroat and some 8 -whinchats, this representing their autUIlm peak. A most unusual arrival for the time of the year 'was a Shore Lark Eremophila alpestri~. As the vdnd at Fair Isle, though light (force 2)" veered to the ,rest overnight on 9th, it is probable that these birds 1.rere drifted off course during a diurnal movement out of Nor"way" reaohing Shetland before nightfall on 9th.

59

The mid-month period September 14th-16th produced a remarkable array of birds considering the we·ather.involved A low, in the Heligoland Bight on 14th.. moved to Denmark and during the next; two days there was SE. "wind acros s the southern Baltic and south Sweden, becoming easterly in the Skagerrak and along the Norwegian coast. Thei'e were t'tJO Pied Flycatchers on 14th and a Brambling Fringilla montif­ringilla followed by a 0 and ~ on 16th, when 2 Garden arid 2 Willow Warblers and 3 l'lhinohats were also presenb. A second Shore Lark'~s present on 17th-18th and also on 21st.

This low" receded eastwards on 16th, leaving us with calm col conditions. Four surprising "southern elements" appeared. Fair Isle'S first recorded .Melodious Warbler Hippolais polyglotta was caught at the Haa in mid-morning, and at the . same time an adult ~ Lesser Grey Shrike Lanius minor was" found bet~reen Setter and Fielde A second adult ~, showing more blaCk Oil the forehead, was trapped at the Haa on the neXt af'ternoon~ Two Barred Warbler s were also trapped on 16th (after one on 15th) and a Wood Warbler Ph. sibilatrix (always a rarity at Fair Isle) was seen. Itis likely that.these birds had travelled to the north out of' eastern France and south Germany ahead of the active cold fionbof the low as it pivoted north-east on its cenbre in Jutland. A fuller discussion of this evenb will be given in British Birds. There is only one previous record of a Melodious warbler in Scotland (the Isle of May, September 27th 1913), and although there are 9 previous records of' Lesser Grey Shrikes in the country (7 of them at Fair Is.) none has come to our notice since the Observatory opened in June"l948.

Af'ber some days of cyclonic westerly wind and rain, better conditions were inbroduced by an anticyclonic ridge eXtending north-westWards from Germany, but redetermined passage was very slight, consisting of' a few Vlhinchats, ~ BlaCkcap, Garden Warbler and lVhitethroat. Occluded fronts inovin~f across the North Sea on 21st and 23rd gave us south wind, but once again· arrivals were few, 23rd being the best day with 2 Song Thrushes "Tiirdus ericetorum., 2 Bramblings, Scarlet GrosbeSk, Tree Pipit, Redstart, Spotted Flycatcher

Muscicapastriata •.. ~~k :1l!!Y?.i-~lla~ ttDi· sand Martin RiJ?ar~~ r'ipari.a.. Th-e 'ff~ri B1\if6~OAt . ~~~!te.e,Ciica W8.sobset"V',ed next. d~". EOld·1'm Z£t'h there w&'1"$ :3 at the: isle, withsi'Ilgl'e birds ·on t.he .. ~ two· d.tw$ and 2@ aath. In all -Uk(!;}lihp'od these' hag. :r'sa(tha-d Sh~lWld ·en ~d (2~ .. ' I$.Q, at:! there was- west mnd~ntd."ilUall.'ytrom. 24t.h ~ 'bhe.:e'lld .0£ the mo~h ...

The first Yello,,~11rawed' Wax-b1er :r&ll~s-c:o~sinorna.tus was f'oundon the SUlIllllit 'of W~ Hill.., . snelt'6riflg a:IJImlg ruins of the' war-time RadaJ" st;ati~ an Oot'o'b'el" 4th, ~ e.a1m col weather succeeded the pass.ing· of 9. low across Rortiias. Two Willow Warbler's, M sO' appetU"'ed.· An. occluSi~n 'whleh ·cl"os.sed the North Sea that nighto.oJllhine.d With a small depr.e~ssion in Delll!lSl"k tocre'ate s'O~ fresh dri~ in the SkagerrSkregion and Heligoland Bight, with the 1"esl.l1t tha:t sever'al interest­ing birds., ~re in .shetland on Ootober' 5th. The i'ir"st small influx'of' Turdldaeto.ok plaoe, mth Redwings 'l'~lllIi~cus some 200 strong. In mid ... mor.nil1g 9. Red.-br,eaS'fred Fly.o.atd'her'Musc. parva ",ms ·lI1BJlOeuvr.ed int:o t-he Observatory Trap at about the same 'Uin:lethat i:ncom±ngendout,go'ing Obs'ervatory -v:i.sitors were watohil1g another in the gardens of S'UIllburghHouse. other arrivalS ware 3 'Whinche;!;s# a: Robin Erithacus rubeoula, Gold­orest R ... regulu'S and 3 Yellow)""nammers Emberlza. o'iut-lriella.

. . Tbatl'lighta dep~e.ssi:on moving quiCkly eastwards

from the At1.am.ic·orossed southern Scotland, its oe:cluded f'ront and assoQciat~d. rain spreading nol'thwards twpugh the North Sea. At. midnight the front reached south",'sastwards from John OJ'Groats to the Hook o£ Holland, and in the SE. airstream b-etwl::rell it and :a quasi ... stationary front; .outside the SkagerrakoOllsiderable dri:rt tOOk place. A moderate ttrush tI of aome 4~ 000 ... 3,000 Redw:t:ngs appeared oh 6th, With a small influx i)f Blao'kbird.s T., 'merula, ca. 500 Fieldtares Tepilari.B (8.. notable mer-ease on the previol.l's day) #' aDd about 50 Song Thrushes (tWioe the number· recorded 'on 5th). There were also 6 Whincnats,2 Ri9'dstt;U"ts, 7 BlackCapS;, 2 lfhitethroats,single Willow Warbler' and Chiffchaff, young Red-backed Shrike LBllius oolluri'O', SiskinCardueJ,.is s;pinus, 50 Chaffinehes· ~i~iUa coelebs andsolll8 400 13r-amblfbgs.

61

Pride of place was. taken, however, by the bird described in Bulletin, 3: 3-4, the Thick-billed Warbler Phragamat­icola aedon, a species not previously recorded in Europe.

This low moved across the North Sea during 5th and further immigration may well have reached Shetland before nightfall by the "Forties cyclonic" approach from western Norway. At night. a wedge of high pressure moved in from the south and brought a change of wind. to SW., and on 7th a noticeable decrease in the Bramhlings and Turdidae tOOk place. The· only new bird seen was a Scarlet Grosbeak.

Calm·· conditions prevailed on the evening of 7th but SE. wind. developed at Fair Isle between a Baltic high and a low situated south of Iceland. The early drive of the Gully on 8thproaucea· a curious "bag", -- Song Thrush, Wood Pigeon Columba palwDhus; Meadow Pip~t and a 1st-winter Lesser Grey- Shrike, the third· of the auturim. Two Robins arid one of the few Tree Pipits seen during the autumn were also trapped on this day.

With the Wind falling calm in Shetland on 11th SOID.e

redeterminea-passage developed and 7 BlackCaps, as 'Well as single . Red-breasted Flycatcher. Robin, Redstart and Garden Waroler appeared. A Yellow-brewed . Warbler was found in Taf'b turnip rig on 12th and next day there 'Were two, one in a similar crop at Busta. Redwings also increased in number during this spell.

There were no substantial changes for a week or so, when a depression approaching Northern Ireland created a SE~ airstream in the North Sea. TUrdidae inoreased on 19th-20th, ·the first-Blaokbird rush developing: some 250 Cl1a:f'fiiiChes, 50 Bramelings (200 on 21st), 50 Snow Buntings Pleotropnenax nivalis and 40 Goldorests were also recorded. Additional species were a Wocdlark Lullula arborea, 4 Reed Buntings Erilb. sohoeniolus, a ~ Black Redstart, 3 Blaokcaps (increasing to 12 on 20th), a Greenfinch Ch. chloris (3 on 22:ri.d) ,2 Great Grey ShrikeS Lanius exoubitor. and several Jackda:ws· ConUs monedula, ;.. none With the pale collar of the typioal race. There was at this time a Short-toed

(concluded on p. 65)

62

21. A Final Report from Foula - Summer and

Autumn 1955. C.lt .. MYLNE.

No observations were m.e.de on Foula from July 18th to September 14th. as I was· absent from the islaiJd. Before I le1't there were a few midsummer visitors- of interest; there was a NIGHTJAR Caprimulgus eUropaeus in the Manse garden on July 7th-8th, a QUAIL . Coti:lrriix· ooturilix calling on 8th and a CORNCRAKE Crex orex on 15th. Perhaps -the mOst un ... expeoted was an immature ICELAND GULL Larus glaucoides, seen around the Voe from July loth to 13th feeding with a horde of gulls and sk.'Uas round the Scalloway fishing-boats at the p.er ..

In the autumn. reoords Were kept oilly in the period September 14th to Ootober 3rd. -In the tirst week the isle was wellooveired---with-the he-lp-of le BALFOOR-PAUL 8.nd-J .. H. HYATT, but after-their departure on 19th mY observations were restrioted by preparations for 'IIIY final departure from the island.

On the jOurney north from Aberdeen-·on·September 8th we had-noted about 30 MANX SHEARWATERS Procellaria puffinus and -one SOOTY SBEAllWATER P. grisea off BUOllaD. Ness" all to eastward of the boat and about 5 to 10 miles out from the ooast 0 They all flew north as far as· they oould be seen, mostly in twos and threes and a -few singly"

on arrival in Shetland some evidence of migration was seen. especially on two visits to the big plantations at ltergord o On 9th a number of warblers and finches 'Were seen under ideal oonditions: on 12th a fresh -wind made observation difficult.!> but the numbers seemed to be down~

September 9th 12th

Barred Warbler SylVia nisoria 1 1 Garden Warbler S.. borin 1 Willow Warbler Ph~ troohilus 4 Pied Flyoatcher - Mo hypoleuca. 1 2 Chaf'i'inch Fringilla coelebs 4 1 Brambling F.. montifringilla 1

63

A comparison with the records from Fair Isle over the same period (see p. 58) is interesting, for BARRED and GARDEN WARBLERS arrived there on 8th, and it is just possible that part of the peak movement at Fair Isle on loth was due to redetermined passage out of Shetland, a light westerly wind prevailing. Farther west on 12th, at Tresta, a PIED FLYCATCHER and a large redpoll, probably a GREENLAND REDPOLL Carduelis flammea rostrata, were seen in a patch of trees and bushes e

- Our arrival at Foula on September 14th coincided with easterly weather and a fair number of migrants were seen up to 17th. Apart from hordes of redpolls far in excess of' Fair Isle's quota, other species were represen­ted by individuals only (so of'ten the case at Foula), -Willow Warbler and 'Whinchat' Saxicola rubetra on 15th, Garden Warbler, ~ Scarlet Grosbeak Carpodacus erythrinus, Brliunbling and RUFF Philomachus pugnax on 16th. There ,vas a:iiexception in a party of' ten LAPLAND BUNTINGS Calc. lapporiicus f'ound on the east cliffs on September 16th, as compared with a maximum of :5 at Fair Isle on loth 'With one only-left by 15th. These Foula birds, the only species apart -from the redpoll to De seen in larger numbers than at Fair Isle, probably arrived from the north-west in the same movement as brought an influx of reidpolls to Fair Is. on-lOth. However, by contrast with this same day, 16th, Fair Isle --, clearly visible across 45 miles of calm sea -was making up for the deficiency with a galaxy of southern rarities none of whioh filtered through to Foula.. Our observations were much more thorough' than usual with three ornithologists in active pursuit of just such migrantsl

. A small redetermined passage through Fair Isle on 19th aiid 20th, after tWo days of cyclonic conditions, had no equivalent on Foula; but new arrivals of drift migrants in floontal conditions from 2lst-23rd were similar, though with smaller mimbers on Foula. These included a LESSER VffilTETHROAT-Sylvia curruoa and-RED-BREASTED FLYCATCHER !. parva pn 21st, and on 23rd a Redstar'tPh. phoenicurus and SCARLET-GROSBEAK which coincided exactly with individuals of the same spe9ies at Fair Isle.

64

Thereaf'ter my reoords were as few as my observat­ions. A BLUETHROAT Lusoinia sveoica was seen and very aocurately desoribed by Mrs. RATTAR of North Biggins on September 29th" a day when there "vera two at Fair Isle, -all probably arrivals during the previous week, for the wind during those last days on Foula was predominantly in the west ..

I left on October 3rd, unwillingly and on dootorts orders. It is hoped to publish a fuller aocount of the birds of the island elsewhere; but it seems appropriate to reoord here my sincere thankS firstly to the Fair Isle Bird Observatory Trust in general, and to the Direotor in partio­ular, formuoh enoouragement, advioe and praotioal help in providing equipment for trap-building, ringing and record­keeping. And secondly to the islander s for their inbere at and tolerance .. and their frequent (and often very accurate) observations, without whioh much of my own work and IIl8.!W of my records would have been impossible.

(concluded from p. 61)

Lark Calandrella cinerea and others were seen in Nove:rnber, as recorded in Bulletin, 3: 14. There were Rooks Corvus frugilegus on the island, and we trapped one (our first Corvid) on October 31st, appropriately enough in the new "Axell" Crow Trap at the North Haven.

A fine c3 Northern Bullfinch Pyrrhulap. pyrrhula 'V/aS caught in a Roadside Tl:'ap on October 29th and others were recorded in late October and November in the south of Shetland- (Levenwick, Mrs~ J. ffA1vlILTONj LerwiCk, G.T. KAY; Sumb'urgh, -WM. HORNE). -There were -two U on Ward Hill on Noverilber loth and. a ~- was seen on 20th (JAMES- A. STOUT) .. whilst another ~ 1'JaS present in February 1956. (JAMES WILSON). The only Wa.xwings Bombycilla garrulus, 3 in num15er .. were seen on November 12th. Some Fieldfares and BlaCkbirds, with a few Song ThrUshes and Goldcrests, arri ved at the isle on the follOwing day_

65

22. Migration- from the North and North-west in Autumn 1955.

KENNETH mLL:wasON.

There were a number of interesting features about the movement through Fair Isle in 1955 of migratory birds from -Shetland, Faeroe, Iceland and Greenland. The most satisfactory was the great strength of the 1Vheatear exodus in late August; followed by good movemenbs of leuoorrhoa in early and mid-S epb ember .. At thepe8.k: period, August 27th-29th, We ringed 172 19heatears (106 of them on 28th) i and the season's total for this- species was 761 birds ..

_. -Passage of Greenland Redpolls was also unusually strong and pr otract ed ll lasting from the end of August to ear 1,. Deoember .. · We ringed a greater IIWllber, 21, than: in a:riy previous season. - The-invasion was llDloh more mar'ked on FOUL! (45 miles nearer to Greenlandl) in the first half of _September, -oVer lOObeirig present aooording to CoKo MYLNE. --Similar "ir-ruptioIls fl were noted at Fair Isle in 1905 8.nd 1925.. -~ analysis of'the autumn immigrtt ion of this b1rd~ with speoial reTerenoe to the 1955 "irruption" will be published in DanSk Orno Fox-eno Tidss 0 -

We- saw mOre goose migration than usual, the species oOnCerned being maiilly PiIlk';'footedg Grey Lag and Barnaole Geese; there-was a tremendous inl'lux or -Snipe on October 1st, and Long-tailed Duoks were deoidedly commoner than in previous years. On~the other hand, the Lapland Bunting -oc:iimnon in some years, and abundant in 1953 ~ was excepbion­ally scarce, and very little of the Snow Bunting passage appears to have-come from the north-westo Having trapped S6Iceland Merlins-in the previous 3 years, it was a great disappointment to get only two in 1955 ..

The weather-patterns 'Which bring these north-west popalations into oUr area have beendesoribed in previous P\l,blicatj,onss '" notably Scoto Nato .. 65i- 65-94, (general L Brit-it Birds, 4T: 434-441 (Iceland-Merlin).. e;l1d BritoBirds, 49: 6-25 (Lapland Bunting).. BrieflYIl we can group them as follows:

66

A.. Cyclonic drift; from south or east Greenland in a westerly airstream of the sOuthern part of a depression in the Denmark Straits or Iceland region; similarly from Iceland with a low centred east of that country.

B. Anticyclonic drift round the nortb-eastern perim­eter of a ridge of an Azores high, with a westerly 'Wind from Greenland veering northerly in the Iceland - Faeroe area; or from Iceland in the northerly airflow betl1een an antioyolonic ridge from the south and a depression situated over northern Norway.

Co Direct southward movement from Iceland - Faeroe under clear anticyolonic conditions firmly established in this region, sither an eastwards-moving high from. the Atlantio or a ridgs extending north-west from Europe ~

Do Direct southward movement through a fine-weather col, usually between highs over Greenland and Britain, and lows over Scandinavia and mid-Atlantic.

E. Direct movement from Faeroe and Shetland (occas­ionally Iceland) under "cyolonic variable" conditions in the zone of calm or light variable winds between two low pressure centres in the same system.

F 0 Direct movement south from the calm central area of a filling low in the Shetland - Faeroe region.

Systematic List

CORMORANT Phalacrooorax carbo. Each aUtumn spme Cormorant passage is seen under any of the local tine­weather patterns listed above, and we have always 'assumed that it originates in Shstland. In 1955 far mors-birds were involved in movements through Fair Isle than in other years, and the question of their origin is obsoure~ The first two appeared earlier than usual, August- 27th, and no more 'Were seen until a-big passage of ca. 65 occurred on September loth with westerly wind at Fair Isle from a oomplex depression bstween Iceland and Greenland (see "An above) • It is possible that these birds were moving east from the pelagio zona ahead of the frontal weather then ~eping aeross the Atlantio. There were only ll-birds on 12th but munbers then inereased daily to reaoh 60 on 16th, 'With persistent westerly wind from southern Green-

67

land at the beginning of the period (A) succeeded by col conditions lD) from 14th-16th. Thus the possibility of some of the Cormorant passage being derived from south Greenland and Iceland caru~t be overlooked.

RED-BREASTED MERGANSER Mergus serrator and LONG­TAILED DUCK Clang~la hyemalis. The fir st Long-tails "lere two on October 12th, preceded by a TUF'rED DUCK A. fuligula on 11th. The period of strong northerly vdnds in mid-month 'which brought the Barnaole Geese and. Gulls, also brought a number of sea-duoks inshore., Mer gar..ser s came in on 14th and increased to 8 on 15th, when the next; group of 7 Long-tails also appearedo There was a drake VELVET SCOTER I,Ielanitta ,fusoa but fewer Mergansers and only one Long-tail next day, fo11o'\red by an increase on 17th to 9 Mergansers, 6 Long-tails and. a dUCk GOLDENEYE Bucephala clangu1a. The Red-breasted Mergansers aL-nost disappeared on 18th, but there vrere 23 Long-tails in one group and 6 TEAL Anas orecca, a W~GEON A" penelope and a second Go1deneye. These in partioular, and perhaps also the earlier influxes (except the Go1deneyes), may have come from Ioeland, influenced by an Atlantic high (B). Fol10'wing a few blank days 2 Mergansers and 11 Long-tails turned up on October 28th, the latter increasing to 13 next day~ This movement again ooinoided 'with type (B) weather; farther east, a fresh northerly airstream was bl01'Ving from Spitsbergen parallel to the Norwegian ooast.

BARNACLE GOOSE Branta leucopsis. Flooks of these geese were seen at the isle on Ootober 16th, a very rare (and very welcome!) eventc It is not knol"ID how many were ooncerned: a Skein of 19 was seen in the morning, and if small groups watched during the a!'ternoon were additional the total may have been 35. If these birds originated in Spitsbergen (perhaps unlikely, considering that gale­force winds prevailed there on 14th) they oould have had a fast dOl'Jll-wind ride to Fair Is. parallel with the coast of Norway in a force 6-7 airstream on the edge of a oomplex depreSsion with centres over the Baltic and Yfuite Seas. North-east Greenland, where anticyolonio calms prevailed on 14th-15th, seems a likelier souroe,' and from here a oalm in the Jan Mayen area 'would have given the birds a

68

ready access to the same northerly airstream. Only 5 remained on 17th. Two more arrived on 28th following a similar synoptio situation.

PINK-FOOTED GOOSE - AnseI' arvensis braohyrhynehUs, and GREY LAG GOOSE Aliseranser .A par'ty of "6 Pink­feet err! ved on September 26th in cyclonic weather (A). A skein of 33 came vdth similar conditions on 30th and next; day an adult GREENLAND WHITEFRONT A~ SJ.bi:f'rons flavirostris was seen by Jerome stout of Le·ogh: 'A ·fe1i'T Pinki'eet" were also presenb on this day and the next;. A Skein of 25 Pinkfeet arrived on O,,'"';tober 7th and stayed next day; some.. Grey Lags were also noted, and it is possible that both species came from Iceland (B). An unusually tame (but probably siok) Pinkfoot remained on 9th, and 4 or 5 plus 28 Grey Lags arrived on lOth (DJ ~ During mid-monbh approach from Iceland was a possibility. cyclonic on 16th (A) ~ a.nbioyclonic on 15th and 17th (B) Cl

Barnaole and Grey Lag were the dominant species at this time, there being 33 Grey Lags altogether on 16th after 4 the previous day, then 6 for several days. . A small juvenile Pinkfoot shot on 15th ,qaS suoceeded by 6 on 16th and 18th. No more were seen till 22nd, ymen 24 "grey geese ft arrived in antioyolonio weather. . More "grey geese", 9 on 25th and 8 on 27th-28th. appeared 'With westerly 1'l1eather (A).

WHOOPER SWAN CfgllUS oygnus.. The first t'\'U'O -were seen on October 1st see p. 72). The next to arrive were 6 on Ootober 9th, a day of fresh· SW. wind and rain with oomplex low pressure disturbances in the north-east Atlanbice There were 3 on 11th and 7 on 12th with first Ioeland and then Faeroe in a 001 and light west wind in our own area. Single swans were seen on 16th and 18th: there were four oyclonic arrivals on 25th (A) and 2 anticyclonio on 28th (B).

The bird of 18th was a lone youngster, feeding at the Burn of Gaila on a oalm morning when there waS not enough breeze to give it suffioienb l1:t'b for "take-off". We oaught it without difficulty_ Last autumn a. lone youngster desoended in the GullYJl an even worse plaoe

69

for getting quiCkly airborne, and it too was caught~ The capture of both birds was plainly due to their in­experience, and emphasises the strong survival value ·of family unity among the swans and geese on migra;; ion and in 'Winter quarters.

ICELAND MERLIN Falco columbarius subaesalon. It was a disappointment to see so little Merlin passage in oomparison with former years. The first 1rraS on time, August' 13th (C), and the next was seen on 20th-21st. Om on 26th and two next day, probably Ioelandio birds, came with the big Wheatear rush (C) I and there were 2: on 29th and 3 in a oyolonio airstream (A) on August 31st., Merlins.; were recorded in ones and twos throughout September, and a Continental F .. o. aesalon was trapped on 4th. There WGre 3 on 14th and 30th (A) and 3 on 18th (D)" For a few days ~om October 1st there were 4 birds (A) and one trapped on 5th was subaesalon. There were again 4 on 17th (A) a and otherwise 2 or 3 down to 21st (a subaesalon was trapped on 20th) a and two on the last day of the month.

SNIPE Capella gallinago, GOLDEN PLOVER 'Charadrius' apricarius, and other waders. August 22nd~23rd (C) saw the peak of the 1rmder passage, - 12 KNOT Calidris oanutus s some 15 DUNLIN Calidris alpina and 16 SANDERLING Crocethia alba. Small parties of Golden Plover, apparently of NW. origin, were noted on Septeroher Ista lOth and 16th, and there 'were 17 on 19th and 28 with the fir st arrival of Pink-footed Geese on 26th, these inoreasing to 40 by 28th. October 1st was the great day for Snipe (see under Whooper Swan) a - the only day on whioh I have seen flOCkS flying abou1; the isle. There was one lot of 29 above the Haa, another lot of 15 ~ and V. M. THOM saw many more than that together on the Mire of Vatnagard. Some individuals seen at close quarters on this afternoon had oharaoteristios of Cape11a g. faeroeensis, and also present were some 30 Golden Plovers. There was a further influx of 30-plus Snipe on October 12th (D). Golden Plovers had been in evidence since· 6th, but 7 on that day and 16 on 9th were probably drift-migrants from the Skagerrak. A score on 11th with a light westerly wind seem more likely to have

70

been Icelandio.. There was an increase of both speoies on october lath (D) but 2 Goldens and 25 Snipe on 20th are more likely to have had a oyclomc~journey across FortielSle There was El. PURPLE SANDPIPER Calidris ~ maritima on october 7th and 2 on 17th arid 3 on" 28th during the periods of northerly winds desoribed under "Barnacle Goose".

GLAUCOUS GULL Larus hyperboreus and GREATER BLACK-BACKED GULL Lo marims.. The 35 GlauoouffGulls which appeared with a large nUmber of' Great Blaok-baoks on Buness on October 17th (aild dbappeared next.: day) may have OOJll4l down :from Spitsbergen and Jan May-en Seas in the strong northerly wind.8 blowi~ at the t~ on the periphery of active loWs over the White Sea.B:ad Baltio .. About two~thirdSl of the Glaucous Gulls were .Multo w~ ha(l 3" on 19th with a SEo wind from the Skagen'ak~ and 2 adult; s on 28th a;N:;er siinilar oonditions to the first invasion" Gulls" resting on Buness ~ on· November 2nd 'Wel"e 280 Great Black=baCks am 12" Glaucous; 8 of' them adults.

WHlTEWAGTAIL Motaoilla alba." alba. The first flush of autumn passage was from August lst~5th" 'With 6 present:; on 2nd (B) 0 There were m moi"et:111 2 appeared 9n 13th (C)" A minor peak between 18th=2oth (with 19 on 19th) was almost certainly from the Cominem in a SeSE" wind ahead of the warm. from or a depresSion active in the Iceland area.. When a high became established over Norway late on 21st more Cominamal birds arrived (14 on 22nd$ 8 on 23rd) in the easterly wind over the North Seao The major peak of over 50 bil"ds# coinciding with a big Meadow Pipit AXlthus pratensis movemenba came the day before the big Wbeatear iiruBhl!9 August 27thg as White Wagtails and Meadow Pipits are mainly day-m1grants~ and Wheatears mainly nocturnal, this precedence was to be expected" . No further passage was noted until September 14th (A), and a.:rterwards· a few Were seen daily to 26th" There were 2 or 3 on October 1st and 3rd, again with an influx of Meadow Pipitso

~ GREENLAND REDPOLL Carduelis f1ammea rostrata .. "The passage of these interesting small birds was very protra­oted, the first appearing on August 26th~27th (B) 9 and movement going on until Decembero Many are knOwn to have

71

been on Foula in the first half of September and it is likely that they were in strength elsewhere in Shetland. There ",,'as a big influx at TORY ISLAND, off Co. Donegal, on the night of September 12th (A), aooording to Light­Keeper O'SULLIVAN.

Some of the reoords at Fair Is. were oertainly due to onward passage from Foula or Shetland, but a few of the influxes appear to have been direot immigration from southern Greenland in the westerly airstreams of dePressionS oentred near Ioeland and the Denmark Straits. This is true of the- late August birds, those of September loth, and others near- the end of the month. Colonel R. hfElNERTZBAGEN,' 'l.<Jho-returned from Greenland at the end of August;t wrchtethat 3 redpolls (rostrata) flew aboard arid remained With the ship on 29th-30th at Latitude 60 N. and between Longi'budes 23 30 and 12 30 W.

There'~re 6 at Fair Isle on September 1st and 11 on 2nd, in type (C) weather, so that this was probably onward passago of the earlier movement. A flook of 13 was at the liaa on September loth (A) and there -were 10 at-the isle on 19th (D). There were 4 for a few days ai'ter 24th (A) 'and 3 on 29th-30th (A); singletons were seen in early Ootober and 2 arrived on 17th, inoreasing to 3 next day (B). Four trapped on 24th were of good weight. 8 appeared-'on 31st (C) and small groups visited JOmrPETERSON'S; garden in Ler,,:.r.i.ck -late in the month. No redpolls had been seen for several days 'when we left on November 11th, but on lZth- I -saw a flOCk of 7 near Loch Spiggie. JAMBS A~ STOUT reports that a flOCk of 30 birds reached Fair Isle on November 15th (C), and a party of 5 appeared on December 2nd, one -remaining into mid-January.

UPLAND BUNTING Calcarius lapponicus. We saw the fir st on AugUst 27th~ the usual time CB), and 3 were seen next day (C). Four birds on 31st, like the redpolls, were prooably direct inunigrants from Greenland (A) • There were 3'after similar weather on September lOth, and 2 increased to 4 on October 17th-18th (B). Other, .. r.i.se, single birds were seen on several days down to October 20th.

72

23. Whooper Swan lliligration.

It has been. our~experi(mce over several- years that a number of the passing "Whooper S'V~s Cygnus cygnus are seen flying purposefully to the north in autumn, -Mlen one would suppose that they ought to be going; in the opposite direotion. Northwards, of course, lies Looh Spiggie, a favourite wintering place (see the Venabl~1:I in Scot. Nat. 62: 142-152, and their recent bOok" pp. 206-210) • This was the case with the first 2 swans we observed in 1955" on the afternoon of October 1st. Acoording; to G. STOUT, they approached the isle from the direction of North Ron­aldshay; my wife and I saw theDl flying; over the middle of the isle at about 200 ft., oalling, and moving; on a line which we reCkOned Would take them to Sea paBt·the North Lighthouse. The time Was 4 57 p.m. VVhen-we reached the North Haven I put- through a telephone call to TOM HENDERSON and asked him to lOOk for the S1mn~s at the looh. He went. out just after 6 arid did not have long t.o wait" for they came in £'rom Fitful Head and settled on the 'Water at 6 9 p~m. There can be no doubt that they were the sa.:mc two birds as h~ floWn over Fair Isle, as only a single swan had -reached Spiggie before this date. The 1 hour 12ndnutes taken to oover the 29 miles gives them a speed of about 24 m.p.h." - ignoring any effect of the light south-westerly wind.

, The explanation of the se northwards movelllent s at Fair Isle is olearly this: the s'WatlS drif't dO'Wll-wiild from Ioeland in a cyclonic airstream, making a landfall somewhere - anywhere - in the north of Britain, and then direct their mi~ation over known territory to the winter quarters at Looh Spiggie. The weather chart for Ootober 1st shows perfect conditions for a dO'WIl-wind flight from Ioeland" a receding depression leaving Iceland with clear, 001 weather, but maintaining a moderate north-'Vresterly wind in the approaoh to no~hern Britain, baCking in our own area. There- was a great influx of Snipe and a flOCk of Golden Plovers (see p. 69) ,-also an inorease in Teal and Wigeon, at Fair Isle on this dEW.

73

24. Autumn and l'linter Bird Movements in the South of Shetland (1955-56).

TOM HENDERSON.

The autumn was perhaps not quite so brilliant as tho spring (see Bulletin, 3: 21-26); nevertheless, among the species_reoorded in the area the LEAST SANDPIPER is hew to Scotland, arid. SPOTTED REDSHlL."iJK and HARLEQUIN DUCK are the first certain notices for Shetland. The ifwreck" of LITTLE AUKS in the early winter produced several examples which have been referred to the Franz Joseph Land race. The Systematic List below is selectives and the notes in parentheses give corresponding records for Fair Isle.

GREAT NORTHERN DIVER Gavia irilmer ~ Adult in sunun.er aress, Scousburgh Bay, Oct" -13th-14the Adult in "Winter pl'lllllage on- Looh Spiggio, Nov. 16th, was probably the same as had been in the bay 14th-lStho It is an interesting faot that this appears to 00 the only fresh-water loch in Shetlandfrequentod by these birde

- - -BLACK-TBROATED DIVER Gavia erctica. A report of a bird of_this species in Scousburgh Bay on Sept. 4th I accepted with cautrioD., as in most cases there proves to be confusion with our native if Rain Goose if

• However, I satisfied myself with the aid of a telescope that this was indubitably a BlaCk-throat in winter plumage, - too shapely and--slender for 8; Great Northern, and the quite slender beak showing no traces of the Red-throat t s very distinctive upwards tilt. Still- in the bay on 7th.

RED-NECkED GREBE Podiceps griseigena. One in the Bay on October 11th-.-

FIJLMAR F\11marus glacial is. For some reason Fulmars on the west coast never left the cliffs this autumn at all, save for a couple of days at the most, and that at a time of strong onshore winds. As late as Oct. 14th, "I!men they should normally have been at sea, L. S • V. V • estimated 1,500 - along the cliff-face from Bergalie to the Niv, at the north-west corner of Fitful Head.

74

(SimilarlYI at Fair Isle absence was confined to a few days only in late October, 25th-27th, numbers being at the cliffs following a large-scale return on 12th, after a period when fewer were present but the oli'ffs never eb:tiirely des.erted. - Ed.).

MALLARD Anas platE.~~ohose Very numerous this year. TEAL A. orecca. Noticeable increase last week of Sept ~ with 20 on Hillwel1 on 25th. Very few in Oct.

WIGEON A. penelope. Numerou s from S apt e until a noticeable falling-off after the first snow in December.

PINTAIL A. acuta. a- on Spiggie, Oct. 10th; a- & 2 ~, Spiggie, Oct. Ilth-22nd; 2 ~, Spiggie, Nov. 13th, one rema.,ining 14th.

SCAUP Aythya marila. Unusually scarce, t and2W on October 21st.

TUFTED DUCK ~ fuligula. ~, Spiggie, Ooto 11th, and big inorease in- numbers about 19th.

POCHARD A. ferina. USual small wintering flOCk of about 35 on Lochs Spiggie and Brow from October. -

GOLDEN .. EYE Buoephala cl~la. 20-25 on Spiggie by Oct. 11th, and big increase about 19th. Wintcl'"ing flOCk of 75 ... 80 until the first freeze-up, diminishing.

LONG-TAILED roCK Clangula hyem.aJ.is. Scaroe on the west side all winter, probably because of bitterly cold weather and onshore winds, but 1'lUlllerous on the east side of Dunrossness, especia.llyabout Grutness.

HARLEQUIN DUCK Histrionious histrionicus. When at the Pool of Virkie on Oct. 16th Miss I.·M.N~ RYAN and Dr. MAEVE RUSKmted a small brown duok diving mar the shore.. Presently it flew on to the sand l and when they approaohed it squatted and allowed itself to be pioked up. It proved to be a ~ Harlequin.. in good oondition but obviously very tired. Miss Ryan and Dr .. Rusk fetched it back for all of us to examine l after which it was released on Loch Spiggie, where it was last seen on the mOl"ning of 18th. A note concerning this bird, the first certain Shetland record, appeared in British Birds, 49:

75

36-37, together with an excellent photograph (plate 4) .. The VENABLES':, "Birds and Ma.mma.ls of Shetlandg n p. 229, Usquare-braoket" a supposed t at \1halsay in March 1893. The present bird occurred during a period of strong al'ld cold northerly winds (see pe 67).

SHELDUCK Ta.doriia ta.dorna. 3 at Boddam, Sept e 29th and one on Oct. 5th~ extremely late dates. On Feb. 1st 2 were at the Pool of Virkie,40n 2nd and 14 on 19th.

~TE-FRONTED GOOSE Anser albifrons. One on Oct. 7th and 2 on 21st.

GREY-LAG GOOSE A~ aneer. 9 on Oct. 4th-5th a:nd 20 next day; small parties on 11th (5). 13th (17), 24th (9), 26th-(1~L 29th (15L 31st (23L:'Nov .. STd (5). 8th (Zlrand-Tath--(lO) •.. - After this we had 8 Grey Lags wint~ eri:ilg, - mainly ~ on the re-seeded lower slopes of -Fitful Head, witil Feb~ 17th, when another 2 joimd InakinglO in all-to date (26th). This is only the second occasion in about 40 years that Grey-Lags have-wintered with us~

- -PINK~FOOTED GOOSE ~ser arvensis brachyrhynchuBo One on Sept~ 26th, 4 on 29th and Z on October 2nd. (See pp. 67-68 for goose movements at Fair 161e)0

- - -BRENT GOOSE Branta b .. bel"'nicla. T'WO of the dark­breasted form appeared on the sea off Soatness on Sept. 1st and were on the Pool of Virkie on 3rd. (Two of the pale-bellied race Bram;a b. brota were in South Harbour at Fair Isle from 8th to 11th-inclusive. - Ede)o

WOOPER SWAN Clgnus CygIlUS. The fir at erri ved on Sept. 2.7th 8.nd on Oct. 1st 2 more came in whioh had passed over-Fm Isle heading north (see p. 72) e Numbers grad­ually increased until the herd numbered 75 on octo 30th. There Was little further increase until November 12th, lilhen more began to· oome in (82), rising to 92 on 15th, 94 on 20th and- so on, until by Dec. 18th we had. reaohed almost a record total of 129 birds. They stuok out the first freeze-up, but a sharp thaw raised the level of the loch on 24th, and by 26th the number had fallen to 64. About 40 are still in the area (Feb. 26th).

76

BEWICK'S SWAN Cygnus oolumbianus beWioki •. One appeared at Looh Spiggie on Oot .. loth-and remained until the big exodus of Wh60person Deo. 26th. The last to be identified here was in 1926.

GREY PLOVER Charadriiis squatarola. Two on Septo 29th, 2 on Oot. 13th and one-on16th;-al1 at Virkieo

GREAT SNIPECapella-media. Aspeoimen brought to me on Ooto lOth Was shot at-the Blaok Holes, Clumley~ A second9 shot by the same man near-Soatness, was brought to me on 28tho He reports flushing a third, whioh he did not seoure. in Cloddiesdale on Nov. 3rd.

WOODCOCK Soolopax rustioola. Very soaroe about the time of the normal flights in late Oot. and early Nov., but a slight influx ooourred in Deoember 0 A few have wirrbered and one was noted on Feb; 17th.

BAR-TAILED GODWlT Lim.cisa la.pponioa.~- -3 on August 28th.. Normally from 6 to 8 wiIIter at Virkie, but there has been one only this year"

SPOTTED REDSHANK Tringa erythropus. Shooting at Clumley on Sept. 16th Capt. OONCAN STEWART and tWo friends had So good view of an unusual wader Whioh "resembled a Red­shank in size" shape andf'light; legs and beak similar in 00 lour ; but it was sooty-blaok on the underparts and some­what lighter and more spotted on baok and wings; there was no white on the seoondaries in flight. n Shown a plate of a Spotted Redshank in summ.er plumage s Capt;. Stewart said unhesitatingly that this was the bird they had seeno It would appear to be the first record for Shetland propere

GREENSHANK To nebulariao One on Augo 18th and 7 on 27th; 3 on Sept. 23rdo (2at-Fa1rIsle H Augo 20th &;

27th" and singly Septo 7th, 9th and 16th. ~ Ed .. ). -KNOT Cali<lris oanutus. 10 on Ango 13th, one on

Oot. 16th. (PeakS at Fair Isle Aug. 13th (11) and Sept. 23rd (11). - Ed.).

LEAST SANDPIPER (Amerioan Stint) C. minutilla. lJfr. SAM BRUCE, veteran Shetland ornithologist, obtained a specimen at the Pool of Virkie on Aug. 14th, the first Sootti sh reoord. The speoimen is now in the Royal Soot­tish Musewm study-oollection.

77

RUFF Philomachus pugnax. Ruff and Reeve near Sumb­urgh, Sept. 11th. (2 at Fair Isle on 13th and 3 on 19th).

GULLS. One Larus hyperboreus at Spiggie on Oct. 16th and 2 at the Dale on Nov. 2nd. An immature L. glaucoides at the Pool of Virkie on October 23rd.

LITTLE AUK Plautus alIa. . Very numerous all 'Winter, su£feri~_heavy mortality. The first noted by me was a dead one on Scousburgh simds on Nove 30th. Since that date they have been turning up all over the plaoe, some inl~d and apparently quite Tit, but mostly weather-beaten and many dead. Six were pioked up one morning on the runways of Sumburgh Aerodrome. Mr. SDI BRUCE informs me that several he has sent to the Bolton Museum have been referred by ~~. A. HAZEL WOOD to Plautus ac polaris, a large raoe not hitherto recorded in Britain. It was described by Surgeon Rear-Adm. J.R. STENHOUSE in 1930 from material collected in Franz Joseph Land (see Soott~Nat., 1930, pp. 47-49).

TURTLE DOVE Streptopelia turtur. One at Spiggie on Sept. 1st and 2 there on Srd. (Singly at Fair Isle, Aug G

28th and Oot. 4thJ. WRYNECK JYn;x: torquilla. One was seen under excellent

conditions at Royalhoull on the late date of NOVa 1st.

FIELDFARE Turdus pilaris. A fe'V'lI, Oct .. 4th (9), vdth an increase next day_ Very few ·wintering.

,. REDWING T. musicus. First flocks on Oct. 5th, with increased numbers'next day.' (Big rush at Fair Isle, 6th) 0

'WHEATEAR Oe'. oenanthe. Last noted on Ooto ber loth. WIINCHAT Saxicola rubetra. One at Virkie, Aug. 20th

and one at Vaumerj Oct. 5th. REDSTART Ph. phoenicurus. T'vro in the district, Sept.

12th-13th, and again two on Oot. 11t~12th.

GARDEN WARBLER Sylvia borin. One on Aug. 27th and about 6 in Sumburgh HOU3e garden next day.

LESSER 'iHlTETHROAT S. ourruca. Two on Oot. 2nd and one on 14th.

CHIFFCHAFF Phylloscopus collybita. Singly on Oot. 4th, 14th and 23rd; 2 at ViTkie on Nov. 5th.

78

YELLOW-BROWED WARBLER Ph. inOrriatus.-· L. S. V.- and U.M. VENABLES and Miss I~M.N. RYAN saw one in the ka1e­yards at Spiggie on Ootober 11th.·

RED-BREASTED FLYCATCHER Muscicapa parva.· Miss I. M.N. RYAN, H.E • .AXELL aildl.Js FERGUSON-LEES watched a bird in Sumburgh -HOUse gardenS- on-Oct. 4th-5th. One "\"1as seen at LerWiok Observatory by Mr. IVOR McLEAN .. on Oct. 24th. There ~~S a ~ PIED FLYCATCHER M. hypoleuoa at Boddrun on September 30th.

mITE WAGTAIL Motaci11a a. alba. One on Aug .. 14th; 2 at the Aerodrome .. 25th; 15 at -Virkie~ Septo 1st.

- BLUE-HEADED WAGTAIL Motacilla f •. flava. There ~ms one at St. Ninian's-Isle on-Sept. 6th;-three others reported on the same day could not be chec'k;:ed.

WAXWING Bombycilla garrulus.. One reinained around­the houses of Hestinsgott for 2 or 3 days about Nov& 11th.

(LESSER GR1!.""Y SERIKE -Lanius minor. 111'" liM. HORNE saw a shrike on Oct. 24th near the hangars at Sumburgh and thought it was this species: it was not possible to get a really satisfactory view but the bird seemed small for a Great Grey Shrike). RED-BACKED SIffilKE L. collurio at Spiggie on Sept. 12th.

REDPOLLS CardueUs flammea ( probably rostrata ). One at Hillwe1l9 Sept. 29th; 7 near Looh Spiggie .. Novo 12th; 7 at Vaadils Nov. 18th6

BULLFINCH prhula p.. :wr-l"htila. Some boys tOOk one to Mr. WM. HORNE on Nov. 7th: it was-a magnificent 8. A t was seen by I~s. J.N. HAMILTON at Levenwick in late Oot.. and one or two were reported £rom Lel'1dok at the same period.

CHAFFINCH Fringi11a ooe1ebs. 7 at Royalhou1l on Ootober 7th and 4 on 13th. .

LITTLE BUNTING Emberiza pusilla.- One -elusive bird was seen by Miss I.M.N. RYAN and myself runong the bushes in Royalhou1l garden on- Ootober 7th.

SNOW BUNTING P1ectrophenax nivalis. ~~erous all winter in floOkS of up to 200 birds.

79

25. Autumn Migration (1955) at Great Saltee.

R.F. RUTTLEDGE and JOHN WEAVING.

The Observatory was manned from August 20th to Sept. 17th and from September 23rd to November 16th~ all dates inclusive.

Migration There were t~ periods of particularly heavy move­

ment involving a good variety of species: August 22nd to 24th, during which the wind was easterly, forces 1-3, and October loth-11th when the 'wind was south, forces 4-3e In the latter period, unfortunately, the isle was inadequately manned and those there were unable to cope with the weight and variety of migranbs. It is feared that several inter­esting -species may have gone unidentified amongst the horde of small birds lurking in the thiok cover.

During -this rush the following Were concerned in big numbers: SkYlark, SWallowa Meadow Pipit" Chaffinchs and rather fewer Lapwings, Redwings, Chiff'chaf'fs, a.lba wagtails Starlings and. Linnets. Also reoorded -were Corn.cr-ake, Black and Common Redstarts, Song Thrush, Garden Vlarbler 6 and Red­breasted-Flycatcher.

Notable occurrences during the autumn 'Tlllere ICTERIIiJE WARBLERS, RED-BREAS TEDFLYCATCHERS and a. Yv'OODCHAT SHRIKE.

PIED-FLYCATCHERS Were particularly numerous and o:x:ceededany passage so far experienced" and TREE PIPITS vrere again of particular iIitereste BLACKBIRDS reached a new all-time "high" on November 1st.

-S-y s t e m a t ic Lis t

. - HARRIER Circus sp. . W or immature birds singly on October 15th, 21-st -to 24th" --28th, 30th and November 9th ..

MERLIN Falco columbarius. One or 2 on most days from Sept. 25th to Nov. 15th; 3 on Oct. 7th and 25th.

LAP'lllNG Vanellu8 vanellus. In llllIDhers from one to 20 on all except four days; Aug. 28th (40), Novo 1st (35), Nov. 8th (38) and 14th (35).

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GOLDEN PlOVER Charadrius apricarius. Aug. 25th (9), Oct. 2nd (45), 3rd-(-30) and- singly-on Oct. 7th and 30th.

TURNSTONE Arenaria interpres. Peak period from Aug. 20th (200) to 22nd, the greatest number so far recorded. -

SNIPE Capella gallinago. One to 6 on many days in October and November. Peak Oct. 30th (17) - 31st (20 +).

WHIMBREL Num.enius phaeopus. Almost daily from Aug. 20th to Oct. 16th in numbers up to 6; but on Aug. 23rd and 29th 10 each day, and a dozen on Sept. 14th.

GREAT SKUA Catharacta Skua. One on August 21st.

LESSER BLACK-BACKED GULL Larus fusous. Passage of L. f.. graellsii from Aug. 20th (1) to Sept. 2nd, almost daily.. MaXima on Aug. 21st (10-15) and Sept. 1st (12). Single birds irregularlyfr~m Sept~ 9th to Nov. 14th.

mOD PIGEON Columba palumbu:s. Singly on Aug •. 24th and Nov. 2nd. On Oct .. 30th 8. flOCk of 78 came from south' ard and passed flying north- towards the mainland.

TURTLE DOVE Streptopelia turtur. One, Oct. lst-2~A.

CUCKOO Cuculus canorus. Singly, Aug. 28th" 31st and September 2nd ..

SKYLARK Alauda arvensis. First appreciable movement; was on Oct. 10th and on-11th 600 lrere recorded.. Afterwards movement was on a much smaller scale and on most days seldom exceeded 20 birds. On Nov. 9th (45) and 12th (35).

SWALLOW Hirundo rustica. Maximum movement tOOk place during five days at the end of September; other days of heavy migration were Sept. 7th (100), October lOth (100) and 11th (300).

HOUSE 1UffiTIN Delichon urbica. Maximum movement was on September 28th (26).

SAND MARTIN Riparia -riparia. Recorded only on Aug. 24th-25th and September 27th.

MISTLE THRUSH Turdus viscivorus. Singly on October 3rd, November 9th and 15th, and 3 on -12th.

FIELDFARE Turdus pilaris. Noted from Oct. 9th and daily in November. Heaviest movement Nov. 13th (55) and 15th (45).

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SONG THRUSH To ericetorum. On most days from. Oct 0

7th to Novo 16th but seldom more than 10. Peak date was Oct. 24th (20)0 All trapped were of the British race.

REDWING T9 musicus. Thin passage from Oct .. 20th, became more intense in November. Most on Nov. 9th (25) 9

13th (70) and 16th (25). RING OUSEL To torquatus. Singly on six days from

October 3rd to loth. BLACKB IRD T" merula. Fir at increase was noted on

Aug. 28th; others on Oot. 7th, 18th$ 24th and 29th. On Nov~ 1st-nUmbers sudderily rose to 400 g then as suddenly decreased until-another strong movement tOOk pl~e on 11th and. again on 16th.- -

-wHEATEAR Oe. oenanthe .1.5 to 30 birds recorded daily from Augo 20th to 26th, thereaf'ter irregularly to Oct. 24th.

-STONECHAT -Saxicola torquata. The usual thin move-ment oomn:tenced on Sept. 25th.

--WINClIAT So r1ibetra. The usual thin passage from August 20th; singly on September 26th and 30th.

REDSTART Ph. pooenicurus. Singly on August 27ths September 8th, 9th and 16th; and Ootober 10th an~ 12th.

-- -BLACk REDSTART Ph. oohruros. Singly, Ootober loth, Novembl'r l~$ 2nd and 4th.-

ROBIN Erithaous -rubeoula. Daily from Sept. 24th to-Nov. 16th in :rmmber s up -to 6 • Nov. birds were probably winter residenl:is. Those trapped were E. r. melophiluso

SEDGE WARBLER -Aorooephalus sohoenobaenus. Move­ment f'i"om Aug. 22nd to Sept .. --2rid-in numbers up to 15. A probable REED WARBLER A. soirpaoeus on August 22nd. -

-ICTERINEWARBLER Hippolais--ioterina. 2 trapped on August 24th and full laboratory desoriptions reoorded.

BLACkCAP Sylvia atrioapilla.. Single c18, Oct. 22nd Jl Nov. 7th and 2 on Nov. 1st.. Single W on oct. 13th and November 9th.

l1HlTETHROAT So_, communis. Up to 20 daily from Aug. 20th to. Sept. 7th; stragglers Sept. loth. l2thJl 16th aDd Ootober 11th.

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GARDEN WARBLER Sf> borin. - Singly Oct. loth and 29th. WILLOW WARBLER-- Phylloseopus trochilus. Daily from

Aug .. 20th to sept. 3rd.; stragglers to loth. As was the case in springg numbers were far below those of other years.

CHIFFCHAFF Ph.. collybita. Passage was very light end irregular and recorded only on 10 days betweon Aug. 27th and Oct& 11th, with a rna.xim:Um. that day (5). Four of these were thought to be "Northernft birds, as alao were birds on ten oocasions between 12th and 29th. Two undoubted "Northern" birds were present on November 16tho

SPOTTED FLYCATCHER Muscicapa striata. Daily from Aug. 20th to 30th, most on 27th ( 30).. Three on Sept. 7th, one on October 11th and another on-12th.

PIED FLYCATCHER M.. hyPoleuoa.. UnUsUally heavy pas s'age .from Augo 24th (5 or more) to 27th (10);- also 25th ( 7) aiid 26th (5), 28th (5) arid 29th (3). One or two on seven days between Augur.t 20th and September 16th ..

RED-BREASTED FLYCATCHER .M~ parva. One trapped on Oot. 8th was present; next:; day and a; different bird was seen 11th.

MEADOW PIPIT Anthus pratensis. First migrants l1 Sept. 4th (50-100). but regular migration only commenced on 24th and continued till Oot. 23rd, then became negligible. Days of' peak 1ll.UlLbers were Sept. 26·th (1,000), 27th (1,200), '1I'ith lesser peakS on Oct. 3rd (ZOO) and 12th (300). On Sepbcmber 26th movement was at its ma...'dmum 1nt:ensity from 0730 to 0830 hours. On 27th it started at 0625 and had ceased by 0835 hours~ being hee:viest from 0645 to 0815 hours. On 28th the fir st arri vale were at 0625 -and there ~s no peak hour.

TREE PIPIT Anthus trivialis. Two or mOre on Aug. 241a and 25th; two on 27th.. --Identified by call-note s.

ALBA WAGTAILS. Passage of' the usual pattern between August 22nd and October 29th.

GREY WAGTAIL Motaoilla oinerea. and Z7th.

Singly, Sept. loth

YELlOW WAGTAILM. flava. An. immature bird remained in one field from September 25th to 30th.

WOODCHAT LaniuliI senator. Bird of the year. Aug. 24th.

83

STllRLING sturnus vulgaris. First noticeable move­ment Oct. 22nd (50 f.-- Usual heavy movement in November, with maxima on 1st (2, 500L 5th (1,000), 12th (2,000) .. 13th (7#000) and 14th (~,500).

GREENFINCH Chloris chloris. Thin movement in Octe and Nov •• vhen on 1st there-;-re-re-40 and on 12th 20, the best numbers so far recorded at the isle.

GOLDFINCH Carduelis carduelis. Irregularly in small numbers frorrLOct. 16th to NOV: 16th; maxima Nov. 1st (50) and 8th (20).

SISKIN C. spinus~ About 4 on November 3rd. LINNETC. can:i1abina. Almost daily from Sept. 25th

to Nov. 16th in numbers often up to 50. Most on Oot .. 11th (200), 12th (250) and-24th (90).

CHAFFINCH Fringilla coelebs. Movement from Oct. 10th (zooL ne:rli -day 500, oonti:rm.ing to Nov. l6tho Days of max­iiDi.un- number-s were oCt. 25th (300).. Nov. 1st (300):t 7th (750) and. -12th (500). There was prolonged heavy movement £rom Nov. -1st' tCf 9th with never less than 250 on any day. Muoh attention was paid to race's involved and all trapped M were carefully.oompared against series of skins. 57 00 examined between Oot~l9th and llov. 15th were olearly referable to hortensis of ridddle Europe; of the,se .. 4 were oaught inOot ... the rest in Nov. 3 others appeared to be intermediates .. ooelebs';;;'hortensis. There were periods when 60 preponder-ated .. others when Wdid so. Thus- there was a run of M only on the afternoon of Nov. 1st, then a gap with W exo1-usively till 3rd; from then to Nov. 7th nearly all trapped were 6't and this sex again-preponderated on 13th.

,-BRAMBLING F. monbifringil1a. Movement almost daily between Oot. 24th and Nov. 16th, heaviest from Nov. 2nd to 4th (12, 20, 12 respeotively).

SNOW BUNTING Pleotrophenax nivalis. ~ on Nov. 3rd.

Trapping The auturirii total aIri.6unted to 724 (36 speoiesL, with

BLACKBIRDS headiIlg the list (206) and next CHAFFINCH (132). WILLOW--WARBLERS: and MEADOW PIPITS exoeeded 50 eaoh and we had 26 PIED FLYCATCHERS.

84

The year f s total was 1,314 (56 species), very few being other than passage birds. BLACKBIRD was top (227), followed by WILLOW WARBLER (200) I WHITETHROAT (146), CHAFFINCH (141).

R e c 0 vel' i e s

Recoveries abroad included a SWALLOW ringed on May 5th 1955 and found dead ori a fishing";vessel off Ile de Croix, Morbihan, FRANCE, on rilay 10th, some 350 miles SE.

A FIELDFARE ringed on November 11th 1954 was recovered at Brattvag. More, NORl~AY, on May 17th 1955.

A CHIFFCHAFF ringed on August 28th 1955 was reported from near Satao, PORTUGAL, on October 14th.

A CHAFFINCH ringed as a nestling in-June 1955 near Oslo in south NORWAY was trapped on November 1st, and on examinat­ion with Skins was assigned to Fringilla c. hortensis.

Several species were recovered in IRELANDo - A ROBIN ringed on August 22nd 1952 was caught in Co. Kerry in early January 1955, and was still there on May 2nd.

It is puzzling that the returns from BLACKBIRDS have been so few. This is normally a very recoverable species, yet of a total of 569 so far ringed atSaltee only one has been reported, - a 1st";winter ~ of October 30th 1951, found in south NORWAY in ttspringtl of the following year.

Of the many retraps at the Observatory, 'che following are of interest. HEDGE SPARROW, May 7th 1952 and March 25th 1955. HEDGE SPARROW~ August 5th 1952 and May 11th, 27th and October 11th 1955; t WHITETHROAT, September 8th 1954 and September 3rd 1955. - A WILLOW WARBLER ringed on August 27th 1955 was still present on the island on September loth.

ACknowledgments

lfe are again grateful to Dr. James M .. Harrison for the loan of a fine series of Skins of the Chaffinch, and for his 1.l-elp and. advice in many things we have greatly to than'k Mr. K. Williamson.

85

26. Migration at Blaavandshuk, Denmark~ in Autumn 1955.

!AN NISBET.

In Bulletin, 2: 301-303~ DAVID JENKINS'. desoribed brief'ly an expedition to watoh migration at Blaavandshuk .on the west Coast of Jutland in September 1954, and a fuller discussion of the results has since appeared in Dansk 0r74 Forcn. Tidss., 49: 149-181. These artioles gave 'some idea of the inberest of the results obtained, and of the' great potentialities of Blaavandshuk as a site for Bird ObserVaf:: ory work. The autumn 'Weather in 1954 'WaS somewhat abnormal.. and oonfirmation or extension of SOIne of the results seemed neoessary~ - so in 1955, five English ornithologists visited Blaavandshuk again, at a later' period, bet'Wecn September 17th and Ootober loth.

As in 1954 the migration was assessed by standard Bird Observatory methods,' including the oounting of da:y­migrants for a sample two-hour period each morning. and the taking of a census of night-migrants each day in an isolated area of cover near the point. Unfortunately most of the passerine migration was .from 10 to 14 days later than in 1954, so that 'We actually saw fe'WaT day­migrants in 1955, although the period of observation WAS 8 d~s later. (The grand totals for the two years 'Were respe'ctively 67,000 and 48,000). As in the early part of the· watch in 1954' CHAFFINCHES, Fringilla coelebs. and NlEADOW'PIPITS Anthus pratensis formed the majority (82%) of the birds. cou:rIbed.

The 1955 weather was much less stormy, and 'We did not again observe a clear correlation between migration and falling wind';' strength, but found falling temperature a Imlch more conspicuous stimulating factor. During the unusually wariJl'wee:bher in early October, in foot, the migration steadily tailed off, and on October 8th we had

. a fine, clear, calm day With only a small trickle of movement Z

86

Other differences 'were apparent in the directions taken by the migrants, which are strongly influenced by the two lines of the coast 'which meet at Blaavandshuk almost at a right-angle, and by the large area of barren heath which lies immediately to the north-east. The pattern of move-ment past the observation posts was Imlch more complex than in 1954, the birds being more strongly influenced by the guiding-lines and less inclined to cross the sea, so that the spectacular movement out to sea on a broad front whioh was seen twice in 1954 did not materialise, despite several days of similar weather. I believe that these differences indicate that the birds were flying with a smaller internal motivation (flFliegeImltfl), possibly conneoted with the later breeding season and milder autumn, with rather different operative stiImlli to migrate. The subject is too oomplex, however" to discuss in detail with such limited data.

On analysis, the influxes of night-migrants fell into a very simple pattern. The typical big migrations seemed to be due to direot crossing of the Skagerrak from Norway, and usually occurred as a depression passed away to the north-east, in improving weather with a favourable north-west wind. In addition, overland drift from Sweden or northern Germany ~ take place under suitable conditions, and the arrival s of September 23rd, '\men we recorded two SCARLET GROSBEAKSl Carpodacus erythrinus, two BARRED WARB­LERS. Sylvia nisoria, a RED-BREASiifD FLYCATCHER MUscicapa parva and RED-TIiROATED and TA~ PIPITS Anthus cervinus and A. campestris" were a gratifying fulfilment of the promise shown by Blaavandshuk on our first evening in 1954 0

Other eastern birds, such as YELLOW-BROWED WARBLER Phylloscopus inornatus on October 8th and a SIBERIAN STONE­CHAT Saxicola torquata maura on September 28th, arrived with influxes o£ Norwegian birds, probably on re-directed passage after earlier drift into western Norway. The frequency of occurrences of eastern birds at Blaavandshuk (in itself a faunistic discovery of considerable interest) after condit­ions suitable for overland drift encourages the opinion that such drift is a regular feature of migration through south Scandinavia. I believe, however, that the records from these

87

'west-coast stabions-may considerably exaggerate the nmner­ical importance of drift in this area by yielding greater concentration of migration from the east than from north or ''R'Jato For example" the largest peak of' night-migranbs at utsira, off 'west Norway, in 1954" 'WaS due to a drift­movement from the east, yet 'When the same eastern species arrived in Denm.ark on redirected passage the next .day" they were outwmbered 20 to 1 by the Norwegian migrant s with Which- they had orossed the SkageiTak.. Further direct evideooe on this point is badly needed"

In addition to the passerines,!l 'We also made our regular sample counts of sea~ and shore-birds.. Some of: the mOre inberesting of the 1954 observationsg . such aB the occurrence-of' large numbers of' GANNETS Stili bassana ana Small numbers of-GREAT NORTHERN DIVERS Gavia :Lmmer,; shearwaters; SkUas and other marine -birds, were repeated in 1955 JI aild we. also sa;w inberesting migration of certain dUCkS -and geese; terns,\) gulls and some 'lrraders. In October the southward migration of' divers attracted most attention arid we esti:rilated that over 1,000, mCfstly BLACK,.;TEROATED Gavia erctica, passed during the peak day,\) October 'lthe

. - The haWk migl"at;ion was heavier than in 19549 and involved no fewaI" than 13 species.. The ooourrenoe of large riw:Dbers seemed to be dependent; simply on south-east 'Winds which drifted tr~ migrating birds laterally towards the coast~ From September 27th onwa..rds we also witnessed pal"t.- of the widespread uirrupbion" of JAYS Garrulus gla.nd­arius.

From this brief summary it will be seen that Blaa~ vaildsliuk is a very profitable place to study migration .. I believe that any future 'WOrk should fall under three headings: (1) study of passerine migration in conjunotion wi.th other _ key stations; (2) comparison with simultaneous observations at other coastal and inland places i.n order to find out the nature of the concerrbration at the coast; and (3) .further work on the migration of coastal birds, a much. neglected study.

88

27. Spring and Autumn Migration (1955) at Portland Bill, Dorset.

JOHN S. ASH.

During its first year as an established Bird Obser­vatory Portland had two temporary Heligoland Traps in operation and 968 birds of 43 species were ringed. The notes in the Systematic List below are in a very abbreviat­ed form and considerable selection has had to be exercised. The phrase "left Bill" refers to birds seen flying out over the sea :Crom the southernmost point. Enquiries regarding accommodation at the Bird Observatory should be made to A.J~ Bull, The Gallop, Bryanston, Blandford, Dorset.

Systematic Lis t

DIVERS,. More frequtmt than usual, especially during April and the first half of M9¥ e

SHEARWATERS. 11 !dame on 3 daysbet'W'een May 8th-21st and 6 on 4 days in Sept. There were 67 Balearic Proce11al"ia p. mauretanicus on 10 days in Sept. and 15 on 4 days inOct ~ mostly flying west. At least two pairs of FULMARS bred ..

RAFTORS. Many fe"wer Sparrow-haWks than in 1954. Four Kestrels left the Bill on Sept. 7th, and single Merlins were seen leaving in mid-October.

WADERS. A Dotterel on Oct. 17th8.rid Green Sandpipers on Oct. 11th and 16th. Common Sanupipersappearedbetween April 22nd-25th. Single Greenshariks on Aug~ 24th and Sept. 4th" A Grey Phalarope on Sept. 18th and Stone Curle\'iS on March 31st (2) ana. April 2nd. A 1st-winter BUFF-BREASTED

- SANDPIPER Tryrigites Su:bruficollis, presenb -from Sept. 28th­Oct.. 11th, was ringed on 9th and weighed 62 gm.

SKUAS. Two Bonxies on Sept. 17th, singly on 22nd and 24th. !rctics singly on 5 days in Sept., 15 on 5 days in October down to 20th, mostly flying west.

89

GULLS. British Lesser B1ackbacks (L. f. graellsii) outnumbered Scandinavian (L.f. fuscus) by 12:1 in March &: April and occurred in the ratio 24:28 in Sept. &: Octo In spring, southerly movements of Common Gulls suggested a oross-Cha.nrial migration: 32 left S.SW. in 125 mins .. on April 2nd and 82 in 2% brs .. on 3rd" An immature Little Gull flew~ast on September 11th.

TERNS e The only large movement of COlllll1Qn / Arctic vTas of 254 flying 'w'est in 50 mins. on Sept" 11th: extreme d.ates were April 22nd (3) and Oct. 15th. Sandwich maxima ~-ere 6 on April 22nd (first seen 2nd) and 49 on Sept .. 4th~ About 12 LittlG and 2 _ Ble.ck Terns flew'l'lest on Sept" 13th.

DOVES. Occasional stockdoves were seen flying out to saa and I"eturning~ April 22nd.-23rd, and in mid-October .. On Nov& 13th ""93 ,'rere- recorded in 80 mins. from 0715 bra .... some flying far out and returning. 'lood Pigeons -wer<e f'requent in autumn with a peak on Sept .. 10th. Turtle Doves April 28th-29th (3)-and from Aug. 24th ~ Octe 1st ..

HOOPOE. Singly, April 2nd and. 26th; Septe 21st &: Sept. 25th... Oot • 2nd.

SHORT-EARED OWL. One flew in from the south on March 30th. More were seen in late Oct. and mid-Nov •

.. LARKS.. One Woodlark flying north Oct. 14th; 2 left south on -;L6th. Main Sx:vlark mght-migration peakS were Oct. 16th (190), 29th (100) and Nov. 12th (250).

SWALLOW. First on April 3rd (6); spring peakS Apr~ 2Obh-21st(100) and May 22nd (200). Occasionally seen arriVing; trom over- the sea at dawn, but 10 left the Bill in southerly direotions in spring. Autumn peakS, Sept. 17th (400), 20th (400 L . 22nd. (800 L 23rd (500 L Oct. 9th (400). - In 1955 th~re was a westerly bias in departures trom the Bill as oomparedwith an easterly one in 1954.

MARTINS. House Martin. peakS 'Were May 22nd (20 +), Sept. 20th (150)" 24th (300) and Oct. 1st (150)-2nd (75). 139 left the bill on Sept;. 24th in 105 mins. from 0600 hrs. Sand Martin peakS were Sept. 20th (40) and 24th (74).

90

CROWS. On March 20th 8 Rooks and 2 Jackdaws left the Bill sw. and returned; similar behaviour, involving also Carrion Crows, was seen on other days. One lioodie was seen flying W~SW. on April 23rd~

TITS. No big influxes as in 1954 (Bulletin, 2: 281).

Th'RUSHES. In Nov. all Fieldfares, usually accompan­ied by Red'\lungs (most on 12th-13th) were apparently coming in from the sea and flying north. There were c a~ 1,000 Redwings on March 13th, with ca. 50 Song Thrushes. Main Blaokbird and Song Thrush movements in autumn were Oct" 13th 23rd and Nov e l2th~ Tra.pped Song Thrushes weighed 64.0 gm. (March 19th), 7202 gm~ (Oct. 3rd), 79.8 gm. (Oct. 8th) and 92 0 4 gm~ (Nov~ 2Oth)~

WHEATEAR. First on March 17th, ca. 20 on 29th" and further influxes on April 27th and May 22nd~ 3 Greenland birds were trapped on April 30th. Autumn peaks were Aug~ 14th (75), 15th (50)~ 21st (100) and 28th (60). The last were 4 on October 24th.

WHINCHAT. First, April 22nd; peakS, April 26th (9) and Aug. 23rd-24th.. REDSTARTS on March 29th, April 1st, and 6 on April 24th; single birds only in autumn. BLACK REDSTARTS between Oct .. lOth-22nd and at least 3 on Nov .. 11th. NIGHTINGALES were trapped on A~~l 12th and Sept~ 10th~ Most ROBINS ~rore on Oct. 11th (5) and 23rd~24th.

WARBLERS. GRASSHOPPER peakS April 26th and 29th .. SEDGE April 26th (30), 28th (20) and 29th (300), with an au~amn peak on Aug~ 21st (15) ~~d the last on Oct~ Ist~ First WILLOW WARBLERS on March 31st (2). then peaks on April 12th and 21st» 26th and 29th (100); autumn peakS, Aug;" 20th and Septe 12th" First CHIFFCHAFFS, March 29th.

WHITETHROATS oamo in from April 19th to 21st (15), and P~~ks fell on 26th (200) and 28th-29ths over 1,000 on the last day, 11hen every scrap of cover 1¥asfull of them and 155 were tr~pped before the supply of rings gave out. Most in autumn on Aug. 21st (30), Sept. 6th-7th and 12th.

91

RARE WARBLERS. WOD-on April 18th; SIBERIAN CHIFF­CHAFF Ph. -0. tristis-trapped Oot. 14th; BONELLI'S WARBLER Ph.. bone11i trapped --on Aug.. 29th, 7.4 gm.; 1st-winter BARRED Sylvia nisoria trapped on Septo 29th and seen Oot. 3rd-4th, -and an adult seen on Oot. 9th; an ORPHEAN S. hortensis was trapped on Sept. 20th, 21.2 gm .. ; and an A(JJATIC Aorooephalus paludioola was present from Oot et 11-13th.. A Hippolais warbler was seen on Sept.. 12th.

- FLYCATCHERS.. A lst':'w1nt;er 0- RED-BREASTED,t Oot., 23rde Weighed 10.9 gm.. PIED were first noted- April 26th-27th; there 'Were ~ on Sept. lst.SPOT'l'ED--were few" May 7th (2) and-21st (4)-':FIRECRESTS singly Maroh 31st~April 3rd and 2 on Novo 5th and-12th-13th.

PIPITS. MB:iry ME.ADOl"S: apparenbly arrived from SE .. on Maroh 31St. and -autumn peaks were Sept~ -24th (700) B 26th (600L, -Cot~ -9th (750) .. - TREE PIPITS from April 12th and lath, in autumn 13 on- Sept .. 4th .. -

l'tAGTAIIS. 5 alba flew -northsing1y .. Maroh 19th!) and there were 3. on--2oth. -- -AUtUmn peak cif 300 on Oot.. 9th. GREY WAGTAILS -seen leaviilg the Bill included 6 in 85 mins. from 0605 hrs. -on Sept. 17th. First flava on April 15th and peak on 29th (7); autumn peakS on Aug. 21st (100) .. 29th (200), Sept. 3rd (165)-4th (300) -and 6th (105)-7th (130) 0

~ BLUE-HEADED WAGTAIL on Aug" 2oth.--;- -- - -FINCHES. 17 GREENFINCIIES: lef'i; in one hour from 0640 hrs-~ on OCto 24th. Sm811 iuunbers of GOLDFINCHES: in springg with 36 -on~ 1st, many leaving t110 Bill between 'West and SW~ Most were seen in autumn on Oct. 13th (289), 1IIhen 184 left in 100 mins.-l'rom- 0630 brs.. LINNET spring peak was AprIl 26th (80) and- autiuDn maxima were Ooto 9th (2450) and 13th--(3100r, mOst leaving between sOuth and. SW" REDPOLLS (4) -left-the Bill S.SW. on Oot 14th; most BRAMBLINGS were Oot. 23rd-24th.

CHAFFINCH~ - Snuill -mOvement on Maroh 29th.. In autumn from 00t.-2nd,_ with strong movements on loth (65), 23rd C-ZOO)':'24th (8000). On this day birds were just visible at a great- height against high oloud, all coming in f'rom the sea and flyiilg north. During a watoh !'ram 1030-1100 brs .. 1171 birds were oounted, mostly only just visible on

92

a narrow fronbJl so the day's tot9.l is probably a very oonservative one. The weather-maps suggest that the birds may have been on -redetermiiled passage to Britain £rom the French coast. having been· drifted down £rom the North Sea when attempting to cross· farther NE.

BUNTINGS. YELLOW-HAMMERS -on March 29th and May 14th-15th. A probable ORTOLAN on Oot. 27th and a RED­HEADEDBUNTING-·at the-Bill at 0705 brs. on Ooto lItho The meteorologioal situation during the Previous 48 brS,. was very muoh in favour of its being a genuiii.e drift-migrant from SE., &It-opeo SNOW BUNTING (rare in Dorset) £rom Ootober 20th-29th.

SPARR01'fS. A hYbrid House X Tree Sparrow was oaught on Sept. 27th. Three sparrows (1 speoies) arrived £rom over the sea on Ootober 24th.

( ooncluded from p. 93 )

had to be destroYed:i'lies appear to· have been attriioted in the first place by rotten f'ish 8.dhering to the down. A pair vmoh sat about in the early swmner on the Mire of Vatnagard eventually nested and had young on July 17th and 18th. f'ledging about August 31st. and September 3rd.

Non:'breeders which made scrapes and were mildly aggressive were in Homisdale until the end of' May, and on Wirvi. Breoks throughout June and July: in each case one bird had a ring, so it seems probaole that -only one pair 'WaS conoern&d. There were tWo other non~breeding pairS., Attempts were made 'with hide and clap-net to trap SOID.e of' the breeding-birds, but-the Bonxies were rather more wary than the Arctic· SkUas, ana. only three birds '!,\!ere caught.. They wsre members of the 2 Vaasetter pairs and Byerwal.l$ and their wing':'lengths and weights were: 398 mm.~ 16403 gmo; 400 mmo~ 1~444 gmo; 420 mm., 1 $ 345 gm. It should De noted that the maximum. wing~ measurement given in Handbook of Brit. Birds is 405 mmo

93

28. The Bonxies,f Breeding-Season, 1955. I •

KENNETH mLLIMvE ON •

As with the Arotio SkUas" the Bonxies Catharaota s. skUa 'showed a marked increase at Fair Isle in 1955. In 'ali ,'13. pairs nested, laying 26 eggs i'r0lll ,vhioh 20 youngsters :'\'Vere' .suooessfully reared.

The oldest pair, on Eas Breoks, were the first to 18¥ .. theirohiokS emerging on June3rd/4th. These early youngster-El, had the longest fledging-periods, 47 and 49 days. The two old-establiShed pairs at Dronga also laid during the first week of May; they reared two young eaoh, but the details of hatching and fledging and not known. The two pairs occupying VaasetJGer and the Byerwall birds laid inndd-May and hatched their chiCkS between Junel4th and 16th: the fledging ... period of three of the four young at Vaas.ette1" is knO'W.Il to have been 45 d~s, and the only ohiok at Byenm.J.l ("mere one egg was infertile) took 46.

-Next:; in order of l~ing were the SUkka MOor North and Br-ae of. Lerness birds. - The former~ oomprising a dark brown bird and a beautiful rufous ~ .. 'Were in their third season: they reared one chick whioh hatohed on June 20th and flew for the first t ime on the evening of August 3rd, a fiedging-period of 44 days. A second egg in this nest waS infertile. The Lerness young flew about August 6th/7th on the summit of the Brae, - quite 300 yards from the nest-site. A new pair, non-breeders on Vaadal Moor in 1954, nested near the western end of the Airstrip, but lost their eggs in mid-June.

New pairs also nested at Dronga (raising one ohick) ana Thi'olie~ .near the Vwetter South pair. 'These birds hatched yol.mg Ob. June 21th/28th and these had very short fledging ... periods. of 42. and 41 da:;y.s. other new breeders 1rrere a pair'whichoocupied ground northo'f the Airstrip into the£irst week of June~ then moved 400 yards across the Sukka Moot" to hatoh two -chioks on July-6th/7th. One of these youngsters was so badly struok by b].owflies, th,6 maggots e~ering the body ... cavity through the anus, that it

94

29. Recent Fair Isle Bird Ringing Recoveries.

M i sce 1 1 a n e 0 u s

SPARROW HAWK Accipiter nisus. Two of the 4 birds ringed in autumn 1955 have been recovered. A a- from the new Vaadal Trap on September 14th was killed at St. Jean­sur-Mayenne. near Laval, FRANCE, 800 miles south (Lat. 48 08 N. Long .. 0 45 W.), o-n December 26th; and a ~ from the Gully on October 9th was found dead at Cawdor, NAIRNSHIRE, 162 miles south, on December 29th. These records, which show how' widely separated may be the wintering areas of birds passing through Fair Isle, bring our Sparrow HaWk recoveries to 6 out of 26 ringed. or 23%.

OYSTER-CATCHER Haematopus ostralegus. In Bulletin 2: 328 we recorded the -recovery of two birds of the same brood, ringed on Buness, June 18th -1953~ One was at Elie, FIFE" on July 4th 1954" -and the ring oftlie other turned up in a mail-bag at GlasgOwl Its origin has now been traced. and the bird was found deaa at Charlestown, also in FIFE, on January 19th 1955, some 250mi1es S.SW.

ARCTIC SKUA Stercorarius parasiticus. .An intermed­iate youngster of the BraeEast pair" ringed on July 17th 1953, was shot at Nissum Fjord, West Jutland, DENMARK, on August loth 1955 (Lat. 56 23 N. Long. 8 12 E." - or about 410 miles SE.). According to Dr. KNUD PALUDAN, who made enquiries for us, the bird retained two of the 3 colour­rings put on it as a chiCk.

SONG THRUSH Turdus ericetorum phi16me1os. A 1st-wo bird taken in the Observatory Trap on October 2Znd 1952 was found freshly-aead at Allerp'd, -Hillerp'd, Sjaelland, DENMARK. on October 14th 1955. (Lat. 55 56 N. Long. 12 19 B.).

MEADOW PIPIT - Anthus pratensis. .A localjuv~ (at 19 gm .. ) caught in one of the small Roadside Traps, July 11th 1955, was killed aboUt October -22nd at J3idart, near Biarritz, Basses-pYrenees, FRANCE" ca. 1,020 miles south (Lat. 43 26 N. Long. 1 35 W.).

95

ROCIt PIPIT Anthus spinOletta petrol3Us. A looal juv­enile' oaught in the Yeoman Net on the shore on August 18th 1954 was found dead on the tide-line Etb Buohazmess, Bodd8l1l, ABERDEENSHIRE (about 150 miles south)" on April 19th 1955. This is the third Fair Isle RoCk Pipit to be found winter­ing in northern Sootland (see Bulletin, 2: 3:ro) ..

GREENLAND REDPOLL Carduelis flammea r'ostrata. One of two birds Which flew against -a lighted window of J.AMES: RAIlIISAY'S house' at' SUn.dl"aquoy, Uyeasound, Unsta SHETLAND" on the:night of October 12th 1955, had been ringed by C.It. MYLNE' on the island of FOULA (about 50 miles south-west), on'September 15th. Both birds were kept; over the 13th, a stormy day J and were relea-sed on 14th.

SNOW BUNTING Pleotrophena' ne ni vali s. At Spurn Bird Observatory a big floCk of' several' hundred Snow Bunt­ings Was present in Janu.ary' and February, and over 430 were o aught in -small traps baited with 'Wheat. Among those captured was A62.245; a 1st-winter ~ ririged at Fair Isle on Ootober81st 1955-in the new North- Grind Trape JOHN CUDWORTlf oaught it on January 28th and it was subsequently retrapped on" several oocasions, including Febru~y 12th, when its weight was 35.74 gm. This was an-increase of 8.18 gm. on its weight' at Fair Isle, where it may have been newly arrived, after some days of westerly weather. It is' interesting to recall that a Snow Bunting was seen at SPurn in mid-winter of 1952 with a oolour-ring siridlar to the combirut ion pUt on 2 a-a- trapped at Fair Isle in autumn 19500 Spurn,is about ,415 miles SeSE. of Fair Isle"

Blaokbird

- Aau~t 8. October" 2Znd 1954, in the Single D.Yke Trapo Found dead at NeWtioWIffiutler,-Co. Fermanagh, in NORTHERN IRELAND:; -on -January 11th -1956. " - - --'lst';;'w.tiiter -~~ Octooer 27th 1951. Found dead at Hammer ~ OgiUiar, -Nord Trpndel8gg NORWAY (64 N .. 9 11 40 Eo) on NoVeIIiber-lltl'l'1954o - This is 520 miles NE. of Fair Isle and the farthest north of our 17 Norwegian records.

96

a-, March 14th - 15th 1953, in the Gully and Double Dyke traps. At Onarheim, Tysnes Island, l2ridles south of Bergen, NORWAY (59 53 N., 5 50 Eo) - some 280 miles east of Fair Isle - on March 22nd 1955.

Adult t, November 3rd 1953, -in Vaadal Trap. This bird was oaught in a- shed, and later released, at Forres, MORAYSHlRE (150 miles S"SW), anoutDecember 13th 1955.

- Adult t, October 29th 1954, in the Gully. Found at Dybe, Bonnet St., Jutland, -DENMARK (56 31 N. 8 10 E.) on April 14th 1955, - probably still-on migration. -

1st-wo c! in the new TwO-way Ditoh Trap on October 20tli 1955" recovered in EI~ly February-1956 ~t G1encol­umbk111e. Co. Doneg8.l., EIRE, oa. 350 miles SW.

Wheatear

Juvenile (wing 94 mm. -tail 56 mm. weight 25.07 gm.) from the Gully Trap, July 9th 1955. Found dead_in the first week of October at Campillos, Malaga, SPAIN (37 02 Ne 4 52. W.) I about 1,650 miles south.

Juvenile (vd.ng 95 mm. tail 56 Irim. weiglit 26.10-gm~) in the Gully on July 13th 1955. Apparently killed against overhead cables at Me8.ford Power -Station, Stone~ STAFFORD­SHmE (about 460 miles south).. on September3rd.

1st-winter (wing 97 mm. t'fii158 mm. weight 25.76 gm.) in one of the small Roadsido Traps on August loth 1955. Reported fromAZuaga,Badajoz, -SPAIN (38 16 N. 5 39 E.), about 1,530 miles south, on October 9th 1955.-

l,st-w.i.nter (wing 96 mm. tail 54 mm. weight- 29~ 93 gin.) from the Double Dyke on August 21st 1955: - Found aead at Nethybridge, INVERNESS-SHIRE, about 175 miles south, on August 25th.

1 et-winter ('wing -101 mm. tail 59 mm. weight - 31 gm.) Oenanthe oe. leuoorrhoa, caught in the Double Dyke Trap on September 1st 1955. Found dead at Vera de-MoXlC_aya, Zaragoze., SPAIN (41 48 No 1 42 W.) , on September 24th 1955, - about 1,280 miles south.

97

30~. RepGrt·.an ··F:tat .... r-UEn:~ Colleoted' at. Fair' Isle in 1955.,' ,

GORDON ·B.C0RBlilT.

1. Migranl:; B :ird~-.

Flle·.s, W9r& Dollected during 1955 £rom 15 migranb.s .. In the: a-cc'ourtt b-alow all these flies" unless otherwiS:e. statedl ar-e ornithomyia fririgillina CUrtis of the dark £:orm (;:cO .. lagopodis Sharp) to 'Which all the. loc.a.l Fair Isl~ f~ies belang. . .

MAY. During May 101 birds were examined, all but 2 being pa:sserinas.. They included 33 Robins and 33 of: various warbler species. - A TREE PIPIT Anl:ihus triVia1is Oil 14th produeed the only fly of the month" and it proved to be acom'pletely new species tor th& coUntry.. It was a ~ and di££ered trom Ornithonryia in its small size •. lack of ocelli and reduced "ling-venation. It did DOt dgl"se with any 'ot the epmmon European spec'iEl.s, and was finally identifi~d by Di".. BEQUAERT ot Harvard as Lynchia falcinel1i Rondani. Dr. Bequaert w.rites that he has specimens trom passerine. hosts trODl various parts of Africa, but that the only i"e£'erence to it in the literature mentiomng a ho.st 1sof its being found on shrikes in TUnis. On April 29th Mr. .JOEN S. ASH oollected a fly ~lhich he believes to be this species £ram a CORNCR.Al{ll: Crex crex e;h Portland Bill.

JUNE. Flies began to appear on June migrants simul­taneou$ly- -with their appearance on local birds .. and 4 were co1leOted frOln 25 examined, 10 being warblers.

3rd: la- £romRed-backed Shrike Lanius collurio. 7th: l~ from Willow Warbler Phy1loscopus trochi1us.

l~ .from Spotted Flycatcher Muscicapa striata • .( This c-ould have been aquired from a Twits in the catchingo-box at the same time) ..

8th:. 19 :f'rom a lst",s1lI1lm6r cl Red-tooted Falcon Fa1co . vS"spe:rtims (Bulletins 3: 5).

JULY. The :ollly 2 migrant s examined, Garden Warbler ~Y'+:via borin and Greenish Warbler Ph. trochiloides Virid­QlJUS, ( t'Wice recaptured) were free of flies • ......-.-

98

AUGUST. As in preVious years flies were very rare on August migrants in comparison with local bif-ds at. the same time (-see Bulletin, 2: 321-322). A total of 80, including 16 waders and 44 warblers, produced only three infested birds:

8th: 2 M and 3 W from a juv. Kestrel Falco tinnun-oulus. One carried 3 mites of the species we find commonly on flies from local Wheatears and which have not yet been determined.

13th: 1 ~ from a juv .. Dunlin Calidris a" alpina" It had under the base of- each wing a large number of empty egg-shells similar to those of the mite Microlichus uncus Which is frequent on flies from the local pipits.

24th~ 1 ~ from a Willow Warbler. This was one of a small, pale form of O. fringillina such as is found on parts of the Corrl::;inent and in the south of EDgland (see below) ..

SEPTEMBER. The 65 passerines examined ,;rere free of flies and only 2 birds· of prey showed infestation:

4th: 7 W from a 1st-winter ~ Merlin Falco colUlllbar­ius aesalon.

14th, 1 ~ from a 1st-winter a: Sparrow-haWk Accipiter nisus.

OCTOBER. 7 birds were infested out of a total of 394 examined. (No flies from 32 birds in November).

5th: 1 9 from a 1st-winter ~ Iceland Merlin FalcG c.

6th: 9th:

loth: 14th: 20th:

subaesaloh~ 1 ~ frome. Redwing T. me IlUlsicus. 1 9 from an adult Blackbird Turdu s merula. 1 9 from a ~ Sparro~ha'Wk. 1 ~ from a Song Thrush T. e. php.lom.elos. 1 9 o. avicularia Lo from a Red·wing. 1 ~ o. avicularia L. from a lst-~~nter BlaCkbird.

The pale O. fringillina collected from the Willow Warbler in August iathe only one of this small- type found at Fair Isle -during the last 3 years. The distri-bution of the t'\"ro forms on the Con\:;inent is imperfectly

99

known. In the British lliluseum are 6 specimens from Scand­inavia, all dark, and 3 from Iceland, 2 dark and the other apparently intermediatee

2. Bre~d~~1?~r~ • . Delousing of the five common passerines was again

carried on throughout the season and 754 flies, all O~ fringillina, 1'10re collected. In general, the pattern oT infestation "taS similar to that of 1954 arid it was of much the same magnitude; but in all species it "tas noticeable . that the peak of infestation occurred earlier than in 1954. As the birds' breeding-season was not unusually early, the explanation is probably an earlier emergence of the flies, stimulated by the V~, dry weather in Junee

Another interesting point of difference was that the Wheatears concerned in the end-of-August ffrush" (27th-29th) were no more heavily infested than Fair Isle birds, and produced no effect whatsoever on the regular decline in numbers of flies taking place at that time (see Bulletin, 2: 313-317). Between mid-August and mid-September no fewer than 455 1fueatears were examined.

The relative numbers of flies on the 5 host-species point more strongly than previously to the suggestion that body-size plays an important part in determining the degree of infestation. Starlings Sturnus vul$a~.i$ again headed the list, the ratio of numb.t;1:!f" 'o¥'l'I1:es to number of birds examined being 2.22; but Meadow Pipit Anthus pratensis, ROCk Pipit Anthus spinoletta petrosus and 1fJheatear were about equally infested vdth a value of about 1; and Twite Carduelis flavirostris bensonorum was lo,rest irdth 0.21. In addition: more "'frens Troglod-ytes t. fridariensis were trapped than in 1954$ and the ratio for 20 juvs. in July and August 'was 0.15" The 1tfay in 1tmich the size of a bird detern4nes the number of its flies is easy to understand. If there "vere 10 flies on the body of a starling there would still be ample room for them to dodg\':.' tl:e bird' s bill during preening; on the other hand, if there were 10 on a Wren it 'WOuld be a case of flstanding room only" and the bird could hardly fail to catch one or morel

100

3 0 Marking Expe;L"iment

At the end of July it was decided to m.ark and release some flie s with a viel'IT to determining their efficiency in finding a hoS't. Some were marked as in 1954 'With paint-spots on thorax and legs, and others were marked on the wings with very dilute paint so that the extra weight would be negligible. However, owing to the flies' habit 01' cleaning their wings 'With their hind feet» this proved a less e1'fective method than the other.. and a 1'ew 01' the recaptures could not surely be ideDtifieds The flies were usually released near the traps early in the morning in the hope of securing short­term recoverie s during that morning's trapping"

Of 161 lII.Sl"'k:ed flies released in this way 12 were recovered in recognisable conditiong the shortest tirile being 1 hour 20 minutes for a fly Which found a Twite. Six other recoveries were made in less than a day_ As before» there was no discrimination in host selection on the part of the fly.9 the hosts on whioh they were re­captured representing a random sample of the birds present 0 Only 4 of the 12 were recaptUred on the same species as that from which they had originatedo

4. Phores,y of Mallophaga

The feather-louse Sturnidoeous sturni SchrBnk was again found on many Starling flies. The percentage of flies carrying lice rose from 22% on the June' juveniles to a maximum of 60%' in mid-July. -Some fli$s from the 2nd-brood ju'Veniles at the begi-nning of August were very heavltly inf'estedR one fly breaking all records with 22 lice! The other fly on the same bird had 6 lice. All the lice (203) 'Were sexed and it was found that 35% were ~t. The sex-ratio showed no definite seasonal trend except that the proportion of tt varied directly with the abundance of lice, rising to 47%' when they ~re most oommon and fsl.ling to 12%: 'When the lice were f'ewest. No immature lice have ever been found on the flies in spite of their presenoe on the birds at this time of' the year.

101

31. Flat-fly Infestati~n on SkOkholm in 1955e

GEOFFREY STANSFIELD.

In 1955 the examination of all pipits and Tfueatears in the "Fair Isle Apparatus" for collecting flat-flies ''ias contirrued. From the results set out below it has been possible to compare infestation in- the two years 1954-55 and derive interesting results by combining the two sets of datae Examination was started at the begin-ning of the season in order that some adult s should be treated, but -of 16 examined none were carrying flat-flies. The firSt fly was taken from a migrant, a ''lHITETHROAT, on May 2lst s and one-escaped from a SPOTTED FLYCATCHER on June 2nd., The first fly from a local juvenile was taken from' a 1NHEATEAR on June 11th. Tables land 2 are given in the same form as in last season's report (see Bulletin 2: 31&=319).

Table 1 Species. Number Number Total

examined. infested~ fHese ------Whe ate ar Oenanthe oenanthe 80 33 69

retraps- 66 18 36 ROCk Pipit

Anthu~ spino1etta 93 21 57 retraps 23 6 12

Meadow Pipit Anthus pratensis --- 43 11 31

retraps 3

Table 2 Host-species. Number of Flies.

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ----Wheatear 47 16 8 5 Z, 2 -

retraps 48 9 2 5 2 -Rock Pipit 72 10 6 1 2 - 2,

retraps 17 2 3 - 1 Meadow Pipit 20 5 2 1 - 2 1 -

retraps 3 -

102

In comparing these results with those for 1954 it is seen-that the infestation is of the same order, although the number of flies on infested birds is higher. Averages are 1~7 in 1954 and 2e3 in 1955. This may be attributed to favourable weather during the hatching-period of the flies. and to the fact that there was high mortality among first brood Meadow Pipits due to predation. Very few juvenile' Meadow Pipits were to be seen before the end of July.

Table 3 compares the variation in infeS'bation during the 2 seasons in fortnightly periods from June lIthe The Table is based on original trappings only and includes all three host-species:

Table 3 Year Fortnightly Periods

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 1955 88 50 45 65 22 13 8 per cent 1954 62 57 58 36 28 25 25 "

By combining the two years I results forWheatears and including only original trappings it has been possible to thro-fl more light on the seasonal di stribution of the flies on this species~ Table 4 shows the average number of fIle s on examined birds in weekly periods from June 11th:

Table 4 Weekly Period: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

Mean nl.1.L-nber of flies per bird 1.0 2~0 O~5 1~3l~3 Oc8 0 0 5 0 0 5 0

(Slight rise to 0,,2 in loth "reek).

This is of particular interest w:ien compared to the results of similar-wOrk by G. CORBET at Fair ISle, where WMatea!"s gave a single peak and the pipit species dOuble peakS (Bulletin, 2: 313-7). Corbet explains this by the !'act that Fair Isle "heatea:t"'s are siilgle ... brooded 'whilst the pipits ha'\re 2 broods; the peakS correspondiilg to the fresh influx of juvenile birds. P .. CONDER has estimated that 60%: of the lfueataars at SkOkholm are double-brooded, and this would account; for the difference in the results.

103

33. The Infestation of Birds by Fleas at Fair Isle in 1955.

KENNETH WILLIAIlBON.

The collecting of bird-fleas by means of the 1IFair I sle Apparatus" (see Brit ~ Birds $ 47: 234-235) was carried on throughout the season from our arrival on May 4th until departure -on November 11th. To get an idea of the degree of infestation and the distribution of the 3 common species on the bodies of birds the season was divided into :3 parts: A, Spring Migration; B, Summer Broods, and C. Autumn Migra­tion. The dates delimiting these periods were arbitrarily chosen as -June 23rd and August 17th, the former as the day on which juvenile Starlings became available for examination.l1 and the latter as a convenient date befoTe the onset o:f the main Wheatear passage and dri1't-movemenbs £rom the Continent.

- As in previous seasons Dasypsyllus g" gallimllae was the commonest flea on spring migranf;s, and Ceratophyllus g81linae the scarcest (see Bulletin~ 2: 234-236)0 With the e.dvenb of the young birds~ however - and especially 01'--200-brood young o:f the Starling, - the latter showed a marked increase and in :fact equalled gallimllae in numbers; whilst during the autumn migration period the oomparative positions of these two common speoies were reversedo The appearance of Co gaJ.linae in m.mbers on the bodies of 2nd-brood young stir lings is interesting and suggests a new generation in the same nests as -were-infested by over-w:tn:terlng fleas in the spring. Starlings rear both broods in the same nests, and probably the heat generated by sucoessive broods serve~ to accelerate the :fleas' oyole.

-The majority o:f Starlings r ne'sts are in dry-stone walls and it is interesting to note that this midsummer abundanoe o:f C. galliila.e is re:flected in hole-visiting and dy'ke­haunbing species, the lYheateai' and Wren, but not in open­counbry birds suoh as the Twite and the two pipit s.

In spring C. &allinae and C. borealis were at wout the S8IIl.e strength as in 1954, but there were fewer Dasyps. g. gallimllae. It is probable that this apparent decline is to be explained by the :fact that :fewer birds of species

104

Bird. Fleas at Fair Isle

Host-species. Examinat ions. D.g.g. C.gal. C.bor. other Ne~. Pos .. Fleas. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ sp.

A. SPRING MIGRATION 1Vheatear 14 10 13 1 3 4 4 1 Rock Pipit 1 2 4 2 2 Meadaw Pipit 4 2 2 2 Blackbird 4 4 9 5 3 1 Redstart 4 7 14 5 4 1 - - 1 3 Bluethroat 1 1 1 1 Robin 18 20 34 12 10 2 2 3 4 1 BlackCap 1 3 3 Garden Warblr 6 2 5 3 2 Whitethroat 14 4 5 1 1 1 1 1 Lesser do. S 3 7 6 1 Willow Warblr 12 5 16 5- 8 1 1 1 Spotted Fly 10 2 2 2 Pied F1ycatr 1 1 2 1 1 Du.."'1nOOk 2 4 8 2 2 1 3 1"',('ee Pipit 1 1 1 1 'White Wagtail 1 1 1 1 Red-backed Sh 1 1 1 - 1

Other sp. 8

TOTALS 104 71 128 47 37 5 11 9 14 4

Be ·SUMMER BROODS

lnleatear 238 34 42 12 8 4 9 8 1 Starling 118 35 60 1 25 33 1 Rock Pipit 183 34 46 15 22 1 3 4: 1 Meadow Pipit 46 8 8 4 3 1 TWite 45 1 1 1 lfren 11 6 11 1 5 4 1 1 Blackbird. 3

TOTALS 644 118 168 32 35 35 49 8 7 2

1tOther Sp. ft (col. eleven) includes fleas lost or ur..identified.

C.

105

Host Species. Examinations. D.g.g. C.gal. C.bor. other Neg. POSe Fleas. a ~ a ~ ~ ~ sp.

AUTUMN MIGRATION. Wheat ear 452 16 20 1 3 9 3 2 2 Starling 47 5 10 1 3 6 Rock Pipit 163 11 15 7 4 1 3 Meadow Pipit 111 6 6 4 1 1 Blackbird 153 6 7 2 1 3 Redwing 88 3 6 1 4 1 Redstart 4 1 1 1 Blackcap 18 1 1 1 Willow Warbler 39 1 1 1 Chaffineh 8 1 1 1 other species 197

1280 51 68 7 15 9 27 4 3 3

likely to yield gallinulae were trapped in 1955~ Sedge and Grasshopper Warblers~ ditch-haunting birds particular­ly liable to· ii1f'e st at ion by this marsh-loving flea, were virtually absent: in 1955, whereas they provided a sixth of the 1954 catch. Nor did we have Wryneck and Grey Wagtail, good providers of this flea in 1954.

Once again C. borealis, whose representative on the mainland of Britain is Co garei, is seen to be predominan­tly a Wheatear flea, although it was also in fair strength on passing Redstarts and Robins. A ~ C. garei was taken froin a Robin and a ~ C. fringillae (hitherto unrecorded at Fair Isle) was ·found on a Whitethroat. Almost certainlys both had been introduced by the birds.

The Hon. Miriam Rothschild, to whom we are grateful for continUing to work on the material collected, recently puolishedtwo important papers on bird-fleas in Trans. Roy. Emom. Soc~ London.. One of these, concerning the known distribution of C. borealis and Co garei, and the records of "hybrids 11 between the two which are found occasionally in lllainland. nests, together with a full discussion of the evolutionary significance of this pheno~non (pp. 296-317), is based to a large extent on the results of the research carried out at Fair Isle.

106

33;. Lepidoptera on Migration in August 1955.

KENNETH WILLIAMSON.

It is now a cormnenplace observation at Fair Isle that good "falls" of birds reach us as a result of dQwn­wind drift in anbicyclonic airstreams blowing towards us from C<mtinental shores. In past years we have noticed that these movements are sometimes accompanied by migrat­ing Silver Y Moths Plusia ga.mnia., and it was in the hope of learning more about the relationship -between bird and insect movements that we added a Mercury Vapour Moth Trap to our equipment. During the latter half of August 1955 DAVID HARDY, a member of the Joint Schools' Expedition, assisted with the working of.this trap.

The first seasonts work was exploratory, for little previ<llus collecting had been done at the isle, and direct evidence of migration was slignt. One periodg towards the end of August. was particularly interesting. giving good evidence that 'Wholesale movements of moths as well as of birds take place down-wiild in a.n6icyclonic airstreams. IVIr. JOIIN LORNE CAMPBELL" 'Who first encouraged us to include Lepidoptera in our studies, tOOk a wide variety of species, several new to his collection, in his M.V. Trap on the Isle of Canna in the Hebrides, between August l2th~14th and on August 24th-25th. Comdr .. G.W. IIARPER also records several interesting migrant moths in Inverness';'shire in the early period and suggests that the prevailing' south-east wind was responsible (Entomolo&ists t Record, 68: 39).

August loth-14th was a period of easterly breezes on the Conti:r>..ent 'south of a high' which moved from Scotland to the Scw..dinavian Peninsula; w.'l.d on the western flank of this high a veer of wind to a more southerly airt developed on 12th, continuing over the next two days. In the later period conditions were sL~lar, \dth a high moving from Britain to Scandinavia bet·rreen 2oth-22nd and remaining firm till 25th, giVing an easterly airflow in Central Europe veering south-east in England and France and southerly in the Hebrides. Temperatures were vrell above the average everywhere at the time.

107

Clear information linking bird and insect migration in this anticyclonio airstream comes from Great Saltee off south-east Ireland, where August 22nd-25th saw the develop­ment of one of the heaviest movements of the autumn. R.F. RUTTLEDGE informs me that the best days were 23rd-24th: on the latter,--2 Ioterine Warblers were trapped" The only Swift-o£the autumn was seen on 23rd, and in this period the biggest-..ver iD.rluX of Pied Flycatchers took plaoe (p$ 82). Sedge and Willow Warblers had peaks at this time, and extiensi ve butterfly migration was going on. Numerous Red Admirals Vanessa at alanta , Painted Ladies Pyrameis car dui , and one or two Clouded Yellows Colla8 croceus, Were seen eaoh day, and ~ge and Small Whites were very COIIImOno - A Green-veined l'fhite Pieris napi and others more regular at Saltee were also seen.. On 26thJ> quoting from the Observatory Log~ "Butterfly -migration was seen 200 to 300 yards offshore coming into the island almost as soon as the mist oleared .. "

Some iilmdgration tOOk place at Fair Isle as well as at Great Saltee and CanD.a, although our best nights were 27th and 28th, 3 days after the biggest-"rush" at Canna 250 miles to the s-outh~ Fair Islet s first reoord of a Dragon-fly, Aesbil8. junoea" was obtained on August 24thg ana. tlle first Silver Y Moth came to light on 25th. Red Admiral- and Painted Lady were seen on 28th, and moths in the trap the previous m.ght included two fUrther p" gamma and- our··· only Sword-grass, Agrotis ypailon. The 30th. was also a good night, With oUr only specimens of the Shears H8.dena naDa and Small Wainscot Arenostola pygmina; also two specimens of varo subfuscata of· the Common Pug ..

M8.riy of the commoner species were flying at this time ana. . some. may -or may Jio~ haye been on migration. Triphaena prormba was . common at the South Lighthouse on the :night of August 27th. Northern Rustics . Ammogrates lucernea \'Vere px:a.ctically 8.11 of the sooty Shetlarid. form, though vat" e

renigera was captured on 27th. One of the commone at moths at tne end of August was the grey typical form of the Autumnal Rustic Amathes glareosa, heavily outnumbering the very beautiful Shetland var. ~ (blaCkish, with the

108

34. Bird Notes from Haroldmnck, Unst.

MOORHEN Gallirrula chloropus. A nest in the marsh was hatching on May 30th, - 3 eggs and 3 young.

GREEN SANDPIPER Tringa ochropus. Ono in the mar sh on Juno 1st. The Venables, "Birds and Uammals of Shet-land," do not give this species in their Unst list.

COMMON SANDPIPER T. liypoleucos. Single birds near a stream at Looh of Cliff and near the point of Hermaness on June 2nd.

LITTLE AUK PlautuB a11e. One s\'nmming olose .in-shore on November loth. (Wind moderate SE.).

SWALLOW Hirundo rustica. On May 28th a big move­ment; of this species, together with oa. 100 House Martins Deliohon urbica, tOOk plaoe. See Bulletin, 3: 9, 18.

GREAT TIT Parus major.· IvI.S. saw one at Norwick on November 11th, and D.S. 'reported one l'nntering from December 1st at the R.A.F. Camp nearby. On one ocoasion it was observed peoking at a disused margarine 'V~apper.

BLACKBIRD Turdus merula. D.S. found a late nest in a rose-bush on August 21st: it cont;ained 4 young which flew 3 days later.

MAGNUS and DOUGLAS SINCLAIR.

(concluded from p. 107)

stigmata outlined in white), which had first appeared with 3 speciIMns on August 4th, a week or so before we tOok any of the typical form.

Earlier in the swmner the Map-winged Swift and the True-Lovers' Knot, Hepialus ~~sconebulosa and Lyoophotia £orphyrea were common, the latter being "over It by August 18th. The Carpets Colostygia didymata and C. salioata f'le~. by day on the oliff-tops in late August but were not taken at light, although the Garden Carpet Xanthorrhoe f'luotuata came to the trap. The Rosy Rustic Hlrl;roecia micaoea was oommon in the village area but rare at the North Haven in late August, and the most abundant; of all, as in former years, was the Antler Cerapteryx graminis.

FAIR ISLE BIRD OBSERVATORY

The Work of the Observatory.-The purpose of the Bird Observatory is to provide facilities for visitors to carry out scientific research on the island, not only in the sphere of ornithology, but in every aspect of Natural History. Work will be mainly concentrated however on ornithology under the supervision of the Director.

The Hostel.-The Hostel has accommodation for ten observers. It is sited at the North Haven, the main landing-place, and consists of a group of well-constructed timber buildings formerly occupied by the Royal Navy.

Terms.-Full board, including service, is SEVEN GUINEAS PER HEAD PER WEEK. Reduced terms are available for parties of students from schools and universities. These terms include use of bicycles, bird-rings, and other Bird Observatory equipment, but do not include hire of motor transport or small boats whilst staying on the island.

Catering.-Breakfast is served at 9a.m., lunch at 1 p.m., and supper at 6.30 p.m. Facilities for early morning and late evening refreshments are provided in the hostel sitting-room.

Applications.-Priority in bookings will be given to " Friends of Fair Isle." and to bona fide naturalists prepared to take part in the scientific investigations of the station under the leadership of the Director, and to help with such other duties as may be necessary from time to time in connection with the station or hostel. Anyone else wishing to visit the island will be made welcome, provided room is available. Those who are not keen ornithologists are asked to book for the summer months-June, July, and August-so that more accominodation will be available in the Spring and Autumn for students of bird migration. Application should be made as follows :-

(1) If made between 1st April and 31st October. To the Director, Fair Isle Bird Observatory, by Lerwick, Shetland. Telegraphic address: "Migrant, Fairisle." Telephone: Fair Isle 8.

(2) If made between 1st November and 31st March. To the Director, Fair Isle Bird Observatory Trust, 17 India Street, Edinburgh. Telephone: Edinburgh CENtral 4532.

Prospectus.-Giving details of transport to and from Fair Isle, and other information, will be sent on application.

Publications.-The Trust publishes an Annual Report which is sent to all subscribers. Bulletins are also published at regular intervals and are obtainable free by subscribers who indicate their wish to have them.

FAIR lSLE BIRD OBSERVATORY o ~oolds. 440ycts.

Road. Bird Trap .... '1"" .. Imlle

Boundaries .•..••